Out of My League
by Madaboutagirl
Summary: !NOT CALZONA Not canon! ! AU Grey's, Addison returns to Seattle Grace at Bailey's request but is surprised to find her former resident Arizona Robbins as Chief of Peds. Short and fun, but NOT CALZONA, CALZONA isn't even a thing in this story. Callie is with Mark post Erica.
1. Chapter 1

Addison's helicopter lands on the roof, she said she wouldn't return to Seattle, but then Bailey called and here she is, back for an emergency consult on a high profile case.

"You're late." Bailey says as Addison climbs out of the copter.

"You're lucky that I'm even here." Addison replies as she brushes past her on the roof.

"It's the Governor's wife, of course you're here." Bailey counters.

Exiting the elevator from the roof, Bailey updates her on the case as they walk. Glancing around as she follows the smaller surgeon, Addison catches a glimpse of someone and distracted she almost runs her over.

"Bailey, why are you stopping? I thought we were going to the exam room." Addison asks annoyed.

"I just saw the new Chief of Pediatrics and since you're working in her department, I thought that I would introduce you to her." Bailey explains, stepping over to the nurses' station. "Excuse me Dr Robbins?"

The blonde turns around and looks at Bailey, "Yes doctor?"

"The fetal specialist is here for the Pullman case, Dr Arizona Robbins, meet Dr Addison Montgomery." Bailey says introducing the two surgeons.

"Dr Montgomery, I've heard a lot about you, welcome back to Seattle Grace." Arizona says extending her hand and smirking slightly.

"Thank you Dr Robbins, it's good to be back." Addison replies taking the extended hand and shaking it lightly. A memory of the last time she touched this hand flashes through her and she flushes a little. The blonde notices and gives her a light squeeze.

"I'm sure I'll see you around," the blonde says, winking subtlely at the redhead.

"Okay then, Miranda, let's go see this patient." Addison says awkwardly turning around.

Bailey looks from the blonde to the redhead confused, what the hell just happened, she wonders.

After the examination, Addison sets up in the doctor's lounge to go over the case and the test results, she needs to work out a surgical plan to save the babies. Twin to Twin Transfusion syndrome is a very complex case and despite everything, she knows that she needs to bring Robbins in on the case to assist her.

"Hey, Dr Montgomery." Arizona says entering the lounge, "how's your case?"

Without looking up, Addison remarks, "You already know that this is a TTTS case, are you willing to assist?"

"Sure if you want me, I'd love to," The blonde replies playfully, emphasizing the words 'want' and 'love'.

"You're really enjoying this aren't you?" Addison asks narrowing her eyes and glaring at the perky blonde.

"I am." Arizona says sitting down across from her. "I bet you didn't expect to see me as Chief of Peds at your ex-husband's hospital? Life is interesting, isn't it?"

"Very. How did this happen?" Addison asks curiously.

"Dr McHale recommended me after I completed the Peds Fellowship at Hopkins." Arizona explains.

"I see, so you're not stalking Derek?" She replies sarcastically.

"Not at all. I've never had to stalk anyone, they, uh, usually come to me eventually." Arizona replies teasing her.

"Ha!" Addison blurts out, "I'm here for this patient as a favor to the Governor of Seattle, he went to law school with my brother, Archer. This has nothing to do with you."

"We'll see." Arizona says confidently, which pisses off the redhead. "So what's the plan?" She asks.

"There is no plan, I'm not here to…" Addison stops herself mid rant as Arizona turns the case file around to look at the scans, "Oh, you meant surgical plan." She says embarrassed.

Laughing at her, Arizona scoots her chair around closer to her and Addison flinches at the warmth of her body so close to her own.

"Is there a problem, Dr Montgomery," Arizona asks turning her head so their faces are inches apart.

Swallowing nervously, Addison decides to go on the offensive. "No, no problem at all Dr Robbins, in fact, I was wondering what you thought of this scan?" She asks, standing slightly and reaching over the blonde for the other file. As her breasts are now practically in the blonde's face, she's pleased to hear the blonde gasp in surprise.

Sitting back down, Addison is happy to see the blonde is flushed from the contact. Enjoying herself, she continues, "You see the blood vessels here connect the twins in the placenta, one is getting too much blood…"

"The other not enough. You don't need to explain Twin to twin transfusion to me Addison," Arizona says little annoyed, "Tell me what your surgical plan is and what you need from me."

"Well, I'm going to go in and separate the vessels, you're going to monitor the mother and in the event that the any of the vessels rupture, you'll take one twin and I'll take the other and we'll pray like hell we can stop the bleeding and save them both." Addison replies looking her right in the eyes.

The intense green eyes are making the blonde feel warm all over and not wanting Addison to know that she still has this effect on her, Arizona stands up and walks around the table, then replies, "Okay. I'll, uh, see you in there tomorrow," she says and walks out of the room.

Addison sits there, her heart pounding. "Crap," she says to herself. "What the hell am I doing?"

"Oh, Addison. I didn't know that you were here already." Meredith says entering the lounge.

"I got here this afternoon. Uh, Grey tell me what you know about Robbins. How long has she been here?" Addison asks.

"A couple of months, she came from Hopkins. Wait, don't you two know each other?" Meredith asks confused, she's pretty sure that the two surgeons would have overlapped at Hopkins, they are only four years apart.

"Why would you think that?" Addison asks nervously, pretending to be reviewing the scans.

"Is that your case with Bailey? Can I scrub in?" Meredith asks sitting down beside her and looking over the scans.

"Robbins is going to assist and Bailey's already in there." Addison explains, as if she needs the complication of having her ex-husband's young wife in her OR.

"Well, I'm on Robbins' service if you change your mind." Meredith says standing up to leave.

"If you see Bailey, tell her I need to see her." Addison replies.

* * *

"Hey is Addison here?" Mark asks Bailey.

"Yes, and leave her alone. She doesn't need you distracting her with all of that." Bailey says gesturing to his body.

"We're friends Bailey, besides I've got Torres for that right now." He says smugly.

"Whatever, I do not need to know who you're having sexy times with. I just need Addison to be focused on this patient. In fact, she's staying with me tonight at my place." Bailey says firmly.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Jeez, lighten up already." He says noticing that Meredith is approaching.

"Montgomery is in the lounge waiting for you." Meredith says walking past them.

"Perfect!" Mark says turning to go see her.

"Sloan, stay away from her!" Bailey says following him down the hall.

"What was that about?" Arizona asks Grey as she approaches the nurses' desk.

"Dr Montgomery and Sloan are old friends, but Bailey is kind of protective of her since the last time she was here, she and Torres got roaring drunk and Sloan and Derek got in a fist fight." Meredith explains.

"Yikes, well they're all past that now aren't they?" Arizona asks carefully.

"Oh, yeah. Besides Sloan is seeing Torres now." Meredith replies, "Oh and Dr Montgomery said that you and Bailey are assisting her, what do you need me to do tomorrow?"

"I need you to cover my patients while I'm in surgery, Grey." Arizona replies. Then she asks, "Uh, so how well do you know Montgomery?"

"Oh no, I'm not doing this. She just asked me about you. What is it with you two any way? Didn't you know each other at Hopkins?"

"Well, she supervised my perinatal rotation at Hopkins my fourth year." Arizona replies.

"Okay, so why are you all being so awkward around each other?" Meredith asks, then realizes. "Wait, she and Derek were practically living apart then, she was in Baltimore half the time and he was in New York City full time. Did you…?"

"No, Grey I didn't sleep with my Attending, if that's what you're asking." Arizona replies abruptly.

"Of course not, Addison, I mean Dr Montgomery isn't, at least I don't think she is…" Meredith rambles and Arizona cuts her off.

"Grey, shut it. We're not having this conversation." Arizona whispers sharply. "Just drop it, okay?"

"Okay." Meredith agrees, still confused about what exactly they were talking about.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Sorry this one is so short, but I have to work a double today. But I'll update again tomorrow!**_

* * *

Arizona is changing clothes in the locker room the next morning when Addison walks in and openly stares at her.

"Like what you see Addison?" Arizona replies playfully as she stands in her bra tying off her scrub pants.

"We're not doing this." She says firmly looking down.

"Why not? We are two single, consenting adults, both attendings, well technically I'm your boss, but I'm willing to over look it if you are." Arizona says stepping in closely to the redhead.

Catching herself looking down at the blonde's perfect breasts, Addison wills herself to look up. "Arizona..." Addison says distracted by how close she's standing to her.

Tilting her head and biting her lip, Arizona is about to lean in and kiss her, when the door opens again and Bailey enters the locker room.

"Just give me a couple of minutes and I'll meet you in there." She calls out, oblivious to what she was interrupting.

Slipping her scrub top on quickly, Arizona closes her locker and leans against it, challenging Addison to change clothes in front of her. Addison heads over to the rack and grabs a pair of scrubs and then steps into a stall to change.

"I'll see you both in there, I've got to check on Grey first." Arizona calls out as she leaves the locker room.

Addison breathes a sigh of relief, then remembers that Miranda is there.

"Everything okay Addison?" She asks.

"Peachy." Addison replies sarcastically.

"No need for that tone." Bailey replies. "I'm sorry that Tucker wet your bed and you had to sleep on the couch. I made you reservations at the Archfield for tonight."

"Thank you Miranda. You really don't need to babysit me. I do manage my own private practice in LA without supervision, I'm sure that I can handle myself here in Seattle." She points out, a little annoyed.

"I know that. But you don't have Torres and Sloan in LA and that's probably why you're successful." Bailey counters.

* * *

"I've got this Robbins. I came in early so I could finish in time to watch the surgery." Meredith explains when Arizona tracks her down while she's in the middle of rounds.

"Okay, okay. So no questions?" She asks one more time.

"No questions." Meredith replies, "Now go scrub in. Bailey will kill you if you're late."

"Uh, you forget I'm the boss, not Bailey." Arizona reminds her.

"That's Bailey's patient, she's the boss. Now go." Meredith reminds her.

* * *

"Nice of you to join us Dr Robbins." Bailey says when the blonde enters the scrub room.

"Just had to make sure Grey had everything under control," she remarks as she begins to scrub.

"Where's Montgomery?" Arizona asks, surprised that the redhead isn't there scrubbing.

"She's in there making sure the patient is prepped and the OR is stocked with everything we might need." Bailey says nodding towards the window. "So Addison mentioned that you've done this surgery with her before?"

"Uh, yes at Hopkins. I was the Pediatric fellow and Chief Resident, when she was completing her Fetal Fellowship there. I actually did a rotation under her supervision, so we've done a few procedures together." Arizona explains.

"Then why did you act like you hadn't met her before yesterday?" Bailey asks confused.

"Well, she hadn't met Arizona Robbins, Chief of Pediatrics before." Arizona explains.

Still confused, Bailey decides to let it go and focus on the procedure ahead of them, so she begins asking Robbins a few questions about the procedure. Miranda is impressed with the blonde's knowledge and now understands why Addison wanted her on the case.

* * *

Up in the gallery, Meredith, Cristina and Alex are watching the surgery.

"Wait, so Rollergirl was a resident when Montgomery was an attending at Hopkins?" Cristina asks.

"Yes, Robbins was Chief Resident and a Peds fellow her fifth year and she did a Fetal medicine rotation." Meredith explains.

"Damn, I need to step up my game." Cristina says admiring the blonde's intensity.

"That's what I'm saying. We all need to step up our games." Meredith says looking at Alex.

"Dude, I'm applying for the Plastics fellowship with Sloan." He says shrugging.

"Plastics? Come on Evil Spawn, you can do better than that. Trust me, you have a future of fake tits and ass ahead of you, you don't need to be a plastic surgeon." Cristina says sarcastically.

"Plastic surgeons make almost twice what General Surgeons make," Alex points out.

"Shhh, some of us are here for the surgery." Izzy says shushing them.

* * *

"Dr Bailey, how's the mother doing?" Addison asks.

"She's good. BP is normal, respiration is normal." Bailey replies.

"Okay, just keep an eye on her. Ready Dr Robbins?" Addison asks as she prepares to separate the blood vessels.

"Go ahead Dr Montgomery." Arizona replies focused and ready to intervene if needed.

"Okay," Addison replies and begins the complicated task ahead of her.

Arizona tenses up as Addison navigates the blood vessels, then suddenly she reaches out to stop the other surgeon.

"Wait," she says, "trace it again, I think you should do that one last." Robbins says pointing out the vessel appears to be larger than the others.

"Oh, good point." Addison replies. "Your view may be superior to mine now, would you like to take this section?" She asks.

"Of course," Robbins replies taking the implements. A few minutes later she looks up at Addison and pauses. "Dr Montgomery, would you care to join me on this side of the table?"

Silently, Addison moves around the table and then swears softly, "Okay, new plan. Bailey, hang two pints of blood and stand by for rapid transfusion."

"I need a cauterization tray and fetal sutures." Arizona calls out.

"Ready?" Addison asks her. The blonde nods and Addison makes the cut on the enlarged vessel.

Working quickly. Addison sutures her end quickly, but Arizona's clamp fails as the vessel begins leaking behind the clamp filling the field with blood. "We need suction here." She calls out. "Dr Montgomery, can you reset the clamp, so I can suture behind it?"

Moving in closely, Addison reaches around the blonde and resets the clamp. Arizona waits for the field to clear and then quickly ties the sutures and nods for Addison to release the clamp. The sutures hold and they all share a sigh of relief.

"Okay, good job Robbins." Addison says still standing right behind her, their bodies touching and the blonde is suddenly very aware of the other surgeon's breasts on her arm.

"I think you can step back now." Arizona says softly to her.

"Oh," Addison says stepping back. "Okay let's finish up here. Good job everyone."

Up in the gallery, Meredith notices that little exchange and wonders if there's more to Addison Montgomery than she realized.

* * *

"I just wanted to say again, good job in there today. It was nice working with you again." Addison says stopping by Arizona's office that afternoon.

"We should meet for drinks later and celebrate, like we used to." Arizona suggests.

"Uh, I'm meeting Sloan and Torres for drinks at Joe's, why don't you join us?" She offers.

"I don't really know them and Joe's isn't really my scene." Arizona explains, "Why don't I meet you at your hotel for drinks after?"

"Oh no you don't, you can meet me at Joe's with the others." Addison replies, "I don't trust you at the hotel bar." She adds playfully.

"If you knew me better, you wouldn't trust me at any bar." Arizona flirts back.


	3. Chapter 3

Arizona takes a step back and evaluates her look for the evening. She's going with a dark purple tight v-neck t shirt and jeans with a tan leather jacket and boots. She stopped by her apartment to change and she estimates that Addison is on her second drink and beginning to wonder if she's going to show up. Smiling at her reflection, the blonde touches up her lip gloss, grabs her clutch and heads down the street to Joe's.

* * *

Addison surveys the bar, typical crowd of hospital people, Mark and Callie have gone up to the bar to get another round of drinks. The redhead is getting annoyed, this will be her third drink and the blonde hasn't shown up yet.

Mark and Callie come back from the bar with their drinks and a round of shot.

Addison rolls her eyes at them. "No shots, we're not repeating mistakes of the past."

Mark laughs as he takes a sip of his drink and then nearly spits it out. "Holy shit." He exclaims and Callie looks up and gasps.

"Uh Addison, I think you're in trouble tonight." Callie replies, looking at the blonde bombshell that is headed right for their table.

"Hey," Robbins says acknowledging Callie and Mark. "Addison," she says slowly, savoring the name on her tongue.

"Ari- Dr Robbins, you made it." Addison stammers a little, taking in the tight jeans and t-shirt, scrubs hide so much, she thinks distractedly.

"Here, we, uh, bought shots, but Addie won't do hers, so you should, besides we're a few drinks ahead of you." Callie stammers nervously, she never really noticed Robbins before and now she's a little flushed at seeing her now.

"What are you drinking Robbins?" Mark asks, amused at the affect the blonde is having on Callie and Addison.

"Vodka soda lime," she replies rapidly and then turns to sit on the stool beside Addison.

Mark returns quickly with the drink, Joe saw her enter and had already poured it. "Okay, so we should do this." He says smiling at the women. "The shots," he adds after Callie hits him under the table.

"To Addison and Arizona, may they always have successful outcomes!" He can't resist the innuendo as he places emphasis on last word.

"You're a child." Addison says smirking at him, then turning to the blonde she tips her wine glass and watches her take the tequila shot like a pro.

"God, Mark. At least buy good tequila." Arizona says picking up the three shot glasses and turning to go to the bar.

Returning a minute later, she has four shots.

"No, I'm not doing shots." Addison says waving it off.

"You'll do this one." Arizona says confidently. "I had Joe make it especially for you." She says leaning in and whispering in her ear, "It starts out sweet, then it warms you up as it goes down, I promise it will leave you wanting more."

Mark watches the blonde whispering and Addison begins to squirm and flush red. He can't help but lean forward, he's dying to know what she's saying.

"Mark, you perv. Give them space." Callie says pulling him back.

"I can't help it, she's got fierce game. I feel like I should be taking notes." He says admiring the blonde's ability to turn Addison into a puddle right in front of him.

"What do you need game for?" Callie asks offended.

"Oh, uh, hey, we should go dance!" He says to distract her.

"Wait, we haven't done our shots." Arizona says turning to stop them from leaving.

"Oh, okay." Callie picks up one and hands the other to Mark and they watch as Addison picks hers up and then they realize the two women aren't even paying attention to them, so they throw back the shots and go dance.

Addison is so turned on, she can barely sit still. Damn her, she thinks as she picks up the shot and looks into those sapphire blue eyes and throws it back.

The shot has the intended affect on her, she feels the warmth of the tequila going down and combined with the intensity of the blonde beside her, she can't help but lean into her and press their lips together.

"We're getting out of here, now." Arizona says pulling away.

"I need to say goodbye to my friends." She says a little dazed and confused by the kiss and the tequila.

Taking her hand, Arizona helps her stand up in her tight skirt and leads her over to the dance floor. "We're going to grab dinner, bye." She says quickly pulling Addison away from them.

"Oh, are you hungry?" Addison asks confused.

"No, but I thought telling your friends that I was taking you home to ravish you for hours would be a little too much since they just met me." She replies wrapping her arm around the redhead and leading her out of the bar.

"Where are we going?" Addison asks as the cab pulls up. "My hotel is right there." She says thickly.

Waving off the cab, they head across the street. Alone in the elevator, Arizona kisses her again and Addison responds, by slipping her hands into the blonde curls and deepening the kiss.

* * *

"I had every intention to resist you." Addison replies later as they finally order a tray from room service.

"I know." Arizona says laughing.

"Damn you. So this is a game to you then?" Addison asks, annoyance creeping into her voice.

"No, come on Addison. This was hot as hell and fun." Arizona counters.

"Yes, but now we have to work together and it will be weird."

"Weird? Why would it be weird?" The blonde asks.

"Because now I've seen you naked, and I'm always going to be thinking of doing this." She says pulling her in for another kiss.

"Mmm, good to know." The blonde responds by pushing back on the bed and climbing on top of her.

* * *

"Well, don't you look refreshed today?" Mark says the next morning when he spots Addison at the coffee cart getting tea.

"Shut it Mark." She says, slyly smirking to herself.

"Oh my god, I need to spend more time with Dr Robbins. She and I need to be friends." He replies laughing.

"Morning, Sloan, Addison. Who are you talking about?" Arizona asks.

"Have lunch with me?" He asks turning to the blonde.

"What? No, I have plans." She says biting her lip and looking over at Addison.

"Oh, I'm a fan. Robbins, I'm a big fan. We're going to be friends. I am an awesome friend." He says smiling at them.

"Go away Mark." They say in unison.

* * *

"They are so fricking hot." He says admiring the two women from a safer distance. Callie walks up and smacks him in the head, "Quit perving on your friend and her new girlfriend."

"I'm not perving on them, okay, maybe a little. Hey do you have a few minutes before your next surgery?" He asks nodding at the on-call room down the hall.

Glancing at the two women, Callie has to admit, it is hot as hell. She never really felt that with Erica, but she can feel them sizzle from here. She grabs Mark's hand and pulls him to the on-call room.

"Cal, slow down. Damn, you're turned on by them too. Hmm, maybe we should see if they'll join us?" He says thickly, pulling off his shirt.

"Shut up Mark," she says pushing him down and untying his scrub pants.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey, how are you? I haven't seen you around." Callie says greeting the blonde surgeon in the cafeteria.

"Oh Calliope, right?" Arizona says remembering this is Sloan's girlfriend.

"It's Callie. No one calls me Calliope." She explains to the blonde.

"Oh, I could have sworn that Addison introduced you as Calliope." Arizona replies flirting a little.

"Uh, she did. She does. But no, no one calls me that." Callie repeats. "So how are you and Addison?"

Arizona looks confused for a minute, "Oh she went back to LA, there is no me and Addison. That was just a one time thing, a little unfinished business from med school," she explains, nonchalantly.

"Really? Wow, I thought... uh, nevermind. Okay then, well see you around." Callie says hoping to get out of what has turned into a very awkward conversation.

"Callie wait, have lunch with me. Let me explain." Arizona says touching her arm.

"You don't have to explain it to me." Callie says still embarrassed.

"I want to. I don't want Mark's girlfriend to think I'm some lesbian player." She says guiding her to a table.

"Oh wait, Mark and I are not together. I'm not his girlfriend." Callie says sitting down.

Now it's Arizona's turn to look confused.

"So I was dating Dr Hahn and then we sort of got into a fight and she left. Left me, left her job at the hospital, left Seattle like left, left. Who does that?" Callie blurts out.

Arizona takes a sip of her tea, "You dated at woman?" She asks.

"That's your take away from that?" Callie asks visibly annoyed.

"That and she's obviously not a stable person, to leave you like that. Oh wait, unless it was because of Mark. That would make sense." Arizona says reconsidering the circumstances.

"Okay, let me explain. Erica was the first woman, only woman actually. But now I'm considering women, I think that makes me bisexual, but we weren't exclusive. It was new and we were just you know, figuring it out." Callie explains.

"Okay, here's the thing you need to know about dating women. New is almost always expected to be exclusive, there's a joint vulnerability in that first relationship. So if you're someone's first, you have to know that going in." Arizona explains.

"So you've been someone's first?" Callie asks shyly.

"Cal, I've known that I was a lesbian since I was twelve years old. I never dated men, ever." She explains.

"Wow, so how did you know so early?" Callie asks intrigued.

"I just knew and I was lucky that my family didn't question it or have a problem with it." She replies. "Okay so you and Erica are figuring things out and let me guess, Mark suggested a threesome."

"Mark always suggests a threesome." Callie replies laughing, "actually, that's how she and I got together."

"What? Oh god, no." Arizona blurts out.

"Oh no, we didn't. But the first time that she kissed me was because of Mark perving over our friendship. You see I was going through a divorce, my husband cheated on me..." Callie begins to explain.

"A divorce?" Arizona is starting to wish, that she hadn't of started this conversation.

"Okay, no more about me. You were going to explain you and Addison." Callie says redirecting the conversation.

"Oops, out of time." Arizona replies as her pager goes off.

"You owe me, I told you things." Callie says reaching over and grabbing her arm before she leaves the table.

"Meet me at Joe's tonight. These are not sober conversations." Arizona replies laughing.

* * *

"How did you get away from Mark tonight?" Arizona asks when Callie sits down beside her.

"He's hitting golf balls with Shepherd." Callie replies, gesturing to Joe for two shots of tequila.

"To new friendships." She says picking up the shot and waiting for the blonde to do the same.

"I like your style Calliope." Arizona says as she sets the empty shot glass back on the bar. "Now grab a drink and let's go spill our secrets." The blonde says motioning to Joe to put the brunette's drinks on her tab.

"Okay, so where were we?" Callie says sliding into the booth.

"You were going to tell me about your divorce." Arizona replies taking a sip of her drink.

"No, pretty sure that you were going to explain your hook up with Addison." Callie replies, feeling bolder in the bar after a shot of tequila.

"Okay, okay. So I had just started my fifth year and I'm in the middle of a Pediatric Surgery fellowship..." Arizona begins.

"She says modestly." Callie adds.

"Then I'm selected as Chief Resident..." the blonde continues.

"Seriously?" Callie asks, "Now I understand how you're Chief of Peds three years out of Med school."

"Okay, do you want to hear this or not?" Arizona asks impatiently.

"Yes, yes, go on. You're the rare unicorn surgeon who is not only a fifth year in a surgical fellowship but you're also Chief Resident, you're fellow students hated you didn't they?" Callie asks.

"Of course they did." Arizona replies and motions to Joe to bring another round.

"So how did Addison fit into this. Wasn't she married to Derek Shepherd and living in New York City?" Callie asks.

"Well, they were sort of separated and she was living in Baltimore while she finished a Perinatal fellowship at Hopkins. It was an emerging program at the time, well, actually it still is. But any way, they were looking for a fifth year to assist her, so she could go back to New York." Arizona explains as Joe sets the fresh drinks in front of them and takes the empty glasses.

"Could you be any more out of my league?" Callie blurts out. "Wait, never mind that's not what I meant."

Laughing at the brunette's out burst, Arizona admits, "Well, that pretty much sums up how I felt working with Addison Montgomery. She was intense and amazing and so so smart. Have you been in her OR yet?" Arizona asks.

"No, not yet. Fetal and Ortho don't overlap much." Callie points out.

"Okay, so obviously I have this huge crush on her and she's not only my attending, she's my fellowship supervisor and I'm Chief Resident, so we spend a lot of time together. I know that she and her husband aren't getting along, not that she'd talk to me about it. But we have this chemistry together that is making me crazy and the whole time, she's ice cold, but I tell that it's there simmering below the surface." Arizona explains.

Callie is finding it hard not to like this woman, she's so genuine and funny.

"Hey, I'll be right back. I need to check on something." Arizona says standing up to go. "I'll have Joe bring another round, but don't go, okay?"

"Okay." Callie says looking around the room for the first time, since they sat at the booth in the back. Quickly, she spots Lexie and Meredith at the bar, then notices George and Alex at the dart board.

"Oh, who are you staring at?" Arizona asks sitting back down.

"My ex-husband is over there, playing darts." Callie says draining her drink again.

"Oh that figures, but isn't he a resident?" She asks. "Oh you did not marry a resident, and I'm sorry that I didn't know you sooner, I could have told he'd cheat on you. Look at him, so full of himself." Arizona says watching Alex.

"Uh, that's not my ex, it's the other one." Callie says, "On the left, George, he's my ex."

"Okay, now that makes no sense. Hold on." Arizona says and runs up to the bar.

"Here, trust me, I'm a doctor." She says sliding two shots towards the brunette and laughing.

"I think I'm going to hate you tomorrow." Callie replies smiling at the blonde.

"You're going to have to explain George to me. I don't get it." Arizona says downing the first shot.

"Let's just say I was fifth year and going through a tough patch. I had just been selected as Chief Resident and I was awarded a fellowship in Ortho and practically running the department..." Callie begins.

"She says modestly." Arizona interrupts her laughing.

"I sucked at Chief Resident. Bailey saved my ass and eventually just took it over." Callie admits.

"I can't imagine running a department and being Chief Resident. Wait, so are you head of Ortho now?" Arizona asks.

"No, it's still Dr Morris' department, but I've been running it for two years now." Callie explains.

"Girl, we need to work on that. You deserve to be head of that department. We're going to make that happen." Arizona says pushing the next shot to her and waiting for her to pick it up.

"I'll drink to that." Callie replies flashing a huge smile.

* * *

What going on back there?" Cristina asks spotting Callie with the blonde. "Is Rollergirl putting the moves on Torres now?"

"Well, we're about to find out." Meredith says as she spots Derek and Mark entering the bar.

Mark spots Lexie first and then Callie. Confused he isn't sure what to do, so he grabs a scotch from Derek and heads back to where Callie is. "Am I interrupting?" Mark asks approaching the table, which now has an assortment of bar glasses all empty.

"Oh hey Mark," Callie says looking up at him. "You're right, Robbins is awesome." Callie says reaching over and taking the blonde's hand.

"Uh, I may have misjudged her. Callie, come on I'll take you home." He says reaching for her arm.

"No, I'm not ready to go home and it's not your place. We both know that you'd rather be with little Shepherd, so go. You have my blessing." Callie says shooing him away.

"Callie lower your voice, they'll hear you." Mark says leaning over the table.

"Mark, don't worry. I'll get her home. I live nearby." Arizona says even drunk, she can't resist teasing him.

"Hey, I live nearby too." Callie says drunkenly.

"Perfect, then maybe we should get out of here." Arizona says standing up.

"Good idea, where did all these people come from?" Callie asks standing up and noticing that the bar is now full.

"Who knows, hey maybe we should order pizza." Arizona says as they stumble out of the bar.

"Oh, I love pizza." Callie says.

Mark shakes his head. Who the hell is this blonde? First Addison, now Callie. At this rate, she'll have Lexie next week, he thinks.

"What was that about?" Derek asks.

"Uh, they're drunk bonding." Mark says sarcastically.

"But isn't Robbins a lesbian?" Lexie asks.

"Lexie!" Meredith says shocked that her sister would blurt out a rumor like that.

"Yes, she is. She's dated most of the nurses who wouldn't date me. At least now I understand that better." Mark says smugly.

"Are you just going to let Callie go home with her?" Meredith can't help but ask.

"Why wouldn't I? We're not exclusive, we're just scratching our mutual itch from time to time." He explains.

"Obviously Torres hasn't heard you describe it that way." Cristina interjects.

"What, it's true. Don't get me wrong, we're good together. Really, really good. But its just not what either of us want long term, obviously." He says glancing at the door again and taking a sip of his scotch.


	5. Chapter 5

**_A/N: Note to self, Season 5 is a good setting for fan fics, there were so many possibilities!_**

* * *

They realized that they live in the same building but Callie insists that they go to her place. Once in the apartment, Callie orders pizza and then goes to the bathroom.

Arizona wanders around the apartment and notes that the brunette has a roommate. "You have a roommate?" She asks.

"Oh, yeah. Yang," she says quickly.

"You live with Cristina Yang?" Arizona asks confused.

"Her clothes are here, but don't kid yourself, she lives at the hospital." Callie replies.

Just then the door opens and Cristina enters with their pizza and a confused delivery guy behind her.

"Pay the guy Torres." She says opening the box and taking a slice.

"Hey, that's not for you." Callie says reaching for the slice as Cristina moves away from her.

"Here, I've got it." Arizona says handing the guy some cash and closing the door.

"I didn't expect you all to be here. I figured you'd be at her place naked by now." Cristina blurts out.

"Shut it Yang." Callie says.

"We're just friends, Yang." Arizona says taking a slice from the box and biting into it.

* * *

Waking up the next morning Callie has the hangover from hell. She looks around the room and realizes that she's alone naked in the bed. Pulling on her robe, she hears voices in the kitchen. So she slips into the bathroom and tries to remember what happened last night. The last thing she remembers is Arizona telling Yang that they were just friends.

"Uh good morning." Callie says entering the kitchen to see Yang eating cereal and Arizona drinking coffee and the two of them chatting like friends. The brunette pours herself a cup of coffee and slowly turns around to face the blonde. "I think I hate you right now." She says sipping her coffee.

"You should have taken the advil last night and drank some water." Arizona says standing up.

"Wait, how are you ready for work already?" Callie asks her confused.

"I live downstairs remember? I went home, then Yang texted me to come up for coffee this morning." Arizona says brightly, "See you all later." She replies heading out the door.

"I hate you most of all." Callie replies glaring at her roommate.

"Why? I didn't buy you drinks get you wasted and send you to bed with... what is the female equivalent to blue balls?" Cristina asks smirking.

"What is the female equivalent to cock block." Callie counters.

"Fish kill?" Cristina replies laughing, "Oh wait, I have another one, clam jam? Yeah, that's better."

"You suck. I'm going to shower." Callie says leaving the room.

* * *

Callie walks into the doctor's lounge and spots Mark. "Hey, sorry about last night." She begins.

"Whatever, I'm over it." He says biting into his apple.

"What does that mean?" Callie asks.

"I'm over Robbins, first she gets Addison and now you. She's obviously feeling like she has to compete with the hospital's golden boy." He remarks smugly. "At least she has good taste."

"She didn't get me, Mark. We're just friends. Nothing happened. Ask Cristina." Callie replies annoyed.

"Wait, the two of you didn't...?" He asks surprised, then adds, "Why not?"

"Grow up Mark. Not everyone who gets drunk has sex." Callie replies.

"Have you not met you? You're a drunken sex machine." He replies, "I need to rethink this, what the hell was Robbins thinking not tapping that." He asks himself.

"You're an ass." Callie says storming out of the room.

"Damn, Sloan. What did you say to piss Torres off?" Arizona asks entering the lounge.

"I'm not talking about this with you." He says abruptly, then turning back around, he can't resist asking, "Why the hell didn't you sleep with her last night?"

"Oh yeah, that's not something we're going to talk about." Arizona says going over to the fridge and taking out a bottle of water.

"I don't get it. I watched you with Addison and I was impressed. Then last night with Torres, impressed again, but then you didn't close the deal, why not?" He asks again.

"Your problem is that you think Addison and Callie are the same, they're two completely different species. Callie Torres isn't a one-night stand kind of person. So no, I didn't sleep with her. Because I respect that about her." Arizona says angrily crossing the room and jabbing him in the chest.

"Ouch, okay, okay," he says backing away from her.

* * *

"So what happened with Callie and Robbins last night?" Meredith asks Cristina.

"Nothing, I got back to the apartment and they were eating pizza. Callie passed out on the couch, we put her to bed and Robbins left." Cristina replies.

"You didn't let Robbins drive!" Meredith asks concerned.

"No, of course not, she lives downstairs on the third floor." Cristina informs her friend.

"Oh seriously? That's weird. How did you guys not know that?" Meredith asks. "There's only one elevator in your building."

"I don't know, but hey, I've got to go. Are you on call tonight?" Cristina asks as she checks her pager.

"Yeah, I am." Meredith says, "And I'm late for rounds."

"Nice of you to join us for rounds, Dr Grey." Arizona says looking up to see the young surgeon slipping in beside Karev.

"Maybe you can present this patient." The blonde says putting her on the spot.

"Jack Willis, 7 years old. Presented in the ER with a bowel obstruction, two days ago. He's been unresponsive to hydrostatic therapy and is now at risk for peritonitis. He's been NPO for 48 hours and is scheduled for surgery in three hours." Meredith recites from memory.

"Thank you Dr Grey. You will be prepping him for the procedure today." Arizona replies. Then to the parents, she says, "Mr and Mrs Willis, do you have any questions?"

They indicate that they don't so Arizona reminds them that she'll be back after rounds.

"Okay, Karev, you're next." She says as they enter the next patient's room.

He recites the case notes and she asks a few questions, then tells him to prep the patient, who is their first surgery of the day.

* * *

In the scrub room, Arizona informs Karev, that he's assisting and Grey is observing, then on the next procedure they will switch places. "Do either of you have any questions?" Robbins asks them before she gowns up and begins to scrub.

In the OR, she nods to the nurse who turns on the music and Alex and Meredith groan as Katy Perry's 'I kissed a Girl' begins playing.

"Problem Grey?" Arizona asks.

"No problem," Meredith replies. "I'm just not used to this kind of music in the OR."

"In peds, we play upbeat pop music, so get used to it." She says laughing, "you'll get used to it. I did."

"Wait, you don't listen to this kind of music?" Meredith asks surprised.

"Of course not, I'm more of a Clash, Kinks kind of a girl, I don't listen to much pop." Arizona explains.

* * *

"Hey, how is your day going?" Arizona asks Callie later in the lounge.

"It's good. You've got back to back surgeries today?" Callie asks, still shaking her hangover.

"Yep," the blonde says grabbing a yogurt out of the fridge and sitting down to eat it.

"Is that all you're eating for lunch?" Callie asks.

"Uh yeah, that pizza at midnight was a bad idea." Arizona replies.

"I barely remember eating it. Uh, Yang told me that you guys put me to bed. Thanks." Callie says embarrassed.

"Well, she insisted on removing your clothes, that wasn't me." Arizona replies.

"Oh god, she did that?" Callie says a little relieved.

"Yes, I prefer my naked women conscious." Arizona teases.

"Good to know." Callie replies playfully.


	6. Chapter 6

"Um, hey I've been meaning to ask you something," Callie says a few days later when she finally catches up to the Pediatric surgeon in the cafeteria.

"Oh hey Calliope," Arizona says smiling and taking a bite of her salad.

Encouraged by the smile, Callie asks, "Would you like to go out sometime?"

"Let me ask you a question. Erica Hahn, she was your first right?" Arizona asks.

"Uh, yeah." Callie replies confused why the blonde is asking.

"Okay, so no." Arizona replies and goes back to eating her salad.

"Excuse me." Callie replies sitting down at the table. "Are you saying no to going out to me?"

"Yes, that's what I'm saying no to." Arizona replies smiling.

Confused and a bit offended, Callie presses the issue. "But we had drinks and it was fun, so why won't you go out with me?" She asks.

"Oh, were you asking me to go out as a friend?" Arizona asks.

"No, I was asking you to go out on a date." Callie replies.

"That's what I thought. I'm sorry, no." Arizona replies and takes another bite of her salad.

"Uh, what is going on here?" Callie asks, "Are you friend-zoning me?" She asks.

Taking another bite of her salad, Arizona considers the question and then asks, "Calliope, we are friends, right?"

Reluctantly the brunette admits, "Yes, we are."

"Okay, so how am I friend-zoning you, if we are already friends?" Arizona asks.

* * *

"Mark, she's friend-zoned me!" Callie says clearly upset.

"Well, she's an experienced lesbian." Mark replies. "And you're, well new to this." He explains.

"How come you are defending her?" Callie asks.

"Well, she's my friend too." He admits.

"We've gone out and had fun, why won't she go out with me?" Callie asks.

* * *

"Addison? Why are you in my office?" Arizona asks, setting her things down and crossing the room to get her lab coat.

Turning around, the redhead smiles and replies, "Webber thought it would be more secure if we just shared an office, do you mind?"

"Uh, why do we need security and why are you in my office?" Arizona asks again, confused and annoyed that the redhead has ignored her for weeks and now just shows up.

"Webber didn't tell you anything, did he?" She asks changing her tone as she sees the blonde isn't happy to see her.

Standing up and crossing the room, Addison takes her hand and leads her to the couch.

"I have a high profile case and I needed to ensure the patient's privacy, so I moved her to Seattle Grace. She's getting settled in the VIP suite now. I will need your assistance on this and we need to maintain the patient's privacy, so I didn't want to set up in the conference room, that's why I am in your office with you." She explains. Then reaching up to straighten the collar on the blonde's lab coat, she adds, "I thought you'd be happier to see me after my last visit."

"Okay so here's the thing," Arizona replies, "One, I don't like surprises. Two, you have ignored me for weeks, why are you here, really?" The blonde asks.

"I can explain..." Addison replies before she's interrupted by a knock at the door.

Arizona goes to answer the door. "I'll be right out." She replies and closes it again, then to Addison she says, "This has been interesting, but I have rounds." She replies sarcastically.

Addison nods, then slumps back on the couch. "Damn, damn, damn." She says out loud. That was definitely not the response that she was looking for from the blonde. Now afraid that she's making an ass of herself, she decides to call the one person who can advise her this situation.

* * *

"Addison, it's been a long time since you've paged me to an on-call room and I didn't even know that you were back?" He says entering the room, locking it and whipping off his scrub top.

"Mark, I need advice. Put that back on." She says loudly.

"Okay, that's just rude." He replies pouting a bit.

"Grow up. I kind of made an ass of myself with a girl..."

"And you called me?" He asks offended.

"Well, you do have a knack..." She begins to reply

"This is how you ask for help Addie?" He asks crossing his arms.

"Come on Mark, don't you want to know who the girl is?" She prods him, knowing that his curiosity is stronger than his feelings.

"Okay, tell me. Who is she and what did you do?" He asks.

Addison takes a few minutes to tell him about her past with Arizona and then about her last visit. They spent a wonderful few days together and then when Addison went back to LA, she threw herself back into her practice and ignored the blonde's messages and attempts to contact her.

"Okay, so why are you here now?" He asks.

"I have a VIP patient that needed privacy and security so I arranged with Webber to take over your VIP suite for the next week or so." Addison explains. "And I was hoping to make things right with Arizona."

"Okay, so what does that mean exactly; are you wanting a relationship with her?" He asks the redhead.

"I-I don't know. I've just, this thing with her it caught me off guard. I feel things, things that I haven't felt in a long time for anyone." Addison admits.

"Seriously?" He asks surprised.

"What do I do? I need to know if I really have feelings for her, or if it was just the euphoria of a first time. And she's younger, secure in herself and sexuality, clearly out of my league in that regard." Addison exclaims.

"Did you just say that blondie was out of your league?" Mark asks concerned. "Damn, you are a mess over this aren't you."

Standing up he paces a moment, then sits back down, "Okay, here's what you do..."

* * *

Arizona finishes rounds and informs her two residents that she's in a meeting for the next two hours.

"Who's in your office?" Karev asks.

"I have a consult on a high profile case. You'll know more if you're needed. Otherwise please refrain from speculation and do not gossip about this, do you understand?" Arizona cautions the two residents and they nod in acknowledgement.

"High profile peds case in Seattle?" Alex asks.

"Someone came by helicopter early this morning. And it was a private one, not MedEvac." Meredith replies softly as they walk down the hall. Spotting Addison walking towards them, she shushes Alex.

"Morning Dr Montgomery." Karev and Meredith say as she approaches.

Addison nods at them and continues down the hall to Arizona's office, they turn and watch her enter it with a key and they exchange a look of surprise.

"High profile pregnancy case from LA? Let's go ask Izzy!" Meredith says excitedly.

* * *

Entering the office, Addison is surprised to see the blonde has already eaten a donut and is sitting at her desk reviewing the case file.

"Couldn't wait for me?" She asks.

Turning around, Arizona swallows and replies, "A case that will ensure a journal article and possibly earn a Harper Avery nomination and my favorite donuts? If I didn't know you better, I'd think you were trying to apologize for being an ass." Arizona asks confidently.

"I am." Addison says sincerely. "I need you. I need you to understand that I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to you, you have me completely off balance. Can we start over and figure this out?" She replies. Then crossing the room to lean on the desk, she drops a hand to the case file, "And you're the only surgeon I trust with this case, I need someone of my caliber. I can't be teaching on this one."

"So this need is personal and professional?" Arizona asks carefully, looking up slowly as if she needs to memorize every inch of her.

"It is." Addison confirms, biting her lip nervously as she feels the blonde's blue eyes raking over her.

"In that case, we should set a few ground rules." Arizona replies, moving her chair so the redhead is now positioned in front of her.

"Okay," Addison replies more curious than nervous now.

"I don't do long-term relationships and I don't have sex in the hospital, so no on-call rooms. And since the media will immediately look for you by checking hotels, if they aren't already, you're moving into the extra bedroom in my apartment." Arizona points out. "Personal takes a back seat to professional. We need to focus on this and the rest we'll figure out as we go, agree?"

"Do you have two bathrooms?" Addison asks.

"Yes, of course." Arizona replies.

Addison nods in agreement. "I'll tell Richard to cancel my reservation at the hotel." She replies.

"Now we just need to get your bags over to my apartment without making a scene." Arizona says looking at the stack of luggage, "Wait, how long are you staying?"


	7. Chapter 7

**_More than just a dream_**  
 ** _More than just a dream_**

 ** _Forty days and forty nights_**  
 ** _I waited for a girl like you to come and save my life_**  
 ** _All the days I waited or you_**  
 ** _You know the ones who said I'd never find someone like you_**

 ** _You are out of my league_**

 **In case you haven't checked it out yet, the title refers to a fun song by Fitz The Tantrums**

* * *

"That's why she won't go out with me!" Callie and Mark are walking back to her place after work when Addison and Arizona climb out of a cab and unload Addison's luggage from the trunk.

"That was fast, even for Addie." Mark replies, "I'm amazing."

"What are you talking about?" Callie asks.

"Oh, nevermind." He says and strolls up to them, "Need a man's help ladies?"

Arizona hands him two bags as Addison gives him a warning glance.

Callie reaches for a bag and just as Arizona is about to hand it to her, she looks up and realizes that it's Callie.

"I've got the rest," she says suddenly and flushes a little.

Callie silently glares at her, trying not remember that she's curious about this VIP Patient and all the secrecy surrounding Addison right now.

"Honey, that's too much. Give Callie a bag, she offered." Addison says oblivious to the tension between the two women.

In the elevator, Arizona explains, "Addison and I are working together on this high profile case, so she's staying in my guest room and not the hotel."

Addison looks smugly over at Mark and shrugs.

Callie is a little relieved, especially when they enter Arizona's apartment and the blonde makes a beeline for the spare room and sets the bags down.

Addison sets her laptop case and files on the dining table and quietly appraises the apartment.

Callie stands with her and does the same.

Mark and Arizona exit the bedroom and he looks at the two women, "Good luck," he says.

"Shut it Mark." Arizona replies.

Crossing the room, she asks, "Would anyone like a drink? I have beer, wine, tequila? Wait, no tequila. We drank it all last week." She says looking a Callie and smiling.

"Don't look at me, that was you and Yang, I was on call." She replies, then adds "Come on Mark, we need to go. Dr Montgomery needs to get settled in."

Mark looks at the beer that Arizona just handed him and takes a long sip, then decides to just take it with him. "Bye Addison, Arizona, let me know if you need anything, I'll be upstairs with Torres." He adds.

"She lives upstairs? Does everyone from the hospital live in this building?" Addison asks sarcastically.

"Neither of them knew that I lived here until a few weeks ago, don't worry. It will be as private as we need it to be." Arizona replies pouring them both a glass of wine.

"Good, because I don't like sneaking around with you." She says taking the wine from the blonde and winking at her. "So are you seeing anyone?"

"No Addison, I'm not seeing anyone. Are you?" Arizona replies, remembering that she's annoyed by the redhead going radio silence for the past few weeks and then just showing up out of the blue.

"Can we wait to do this? I really just need to unwind first." She replies as she moves to the couch to sit down.

"Sure, but maybe now you can tell me how it is that you know the Prince of Zimbabwe and his wife?" Arizona asks as she moves around to sit in the chair across from the couch.

Addison feigns disappointment, but not before slipping off her heels and stretching out her long beautiful legs in front of her and gauging the blonde's reaction.

"Sarah and I were undergrads together Columbia, which is where she met Rob." Addison explains.

"Were you roommates, you seem close." Arizona remarks.

"We lived across the hall from each other. My dad owned a building near the university, the top floor was split into two apartments, I had one and Sarah had the other. Sarah and I were both studying genetics, I was pre-med and she was bio chem." Addison continues to explain.

Arizona gets up and grabs the bottle of wine and tops off their glasses. Honestly, she's getting more confused about why Addison agreed to stay here at her place. Obviously, she could stay anywhere in the city.

"What do you think of the case?" Addison asks.

"I can't believe the Israeli genetics testing is this precise, but to be able to tell the parents at 22 weeks, that their child is going to develop Sickle Cell Anemia, that's incredible." Arizona remarks.

"Well, if my plan to scrub the blood of the sickle cells in vitro works, then we will make medical history. I really can't wait to get into the lab tomorrow." Addison replies excitedly. "I ordered several new pieces of equipment and had The Captain donate them to Seattle Grace."

"The Captain?" Arizona asks confused.

"My father," she explains.

Laughing Arizona confesses, "My father is The Colonel."

"Oh god, I hope they meet. The Captain and The Colonel, that would be amusing." Addison says delighted.

* * *

"Tell me how to compete with Montgomery!" Callie says pacing around her apartment.

"You can't complete with Addison, Torres." Mark replies and she shoots him a dangerous look. "Wait, that's not how I meant it, you obviously can complete with her, I've seen both of you naked and believe me that's a competition that I'd love to be apart of."

"Not helpful Mark!" Callie says and then switches to Spanish.

Jumping up from the couch to catch the brunette in mid rant, he says, "Torres, I don't speak Spanish. And you need to realize that Arizona doesn't see you that way, yet. I'm saying yet, because that obviously will change, you're hot as hell and very nearby, she'd be crazy to stay hooked up with Addison." He replies.

"I don't want her hooked up to Addison at all, that's the problem." Callie yells.

"Well, I don't think that you have a say in that. They're going to be shacked up together for the next week or so." He reminds her.

"I checked the OR board and Montgomery has no OR booked. So what is so special about the patient in the VIP suite?" Callie asks.

"I don't know, it's restricted. And if she had an OR booked, it would be restricted too." He points out.

* * *

As they exit the building the next morning, Addison looks up and down the street.

"Is there a problem?" Arizona asks.

"Uh, do you even own a car?" She asks, lowering her sunglasses.

"Of course, but why would I drive three blocks to work on a beautiful morning?" Arizona asks, then looks down at her high heels and smirks.

"Wait here." Addison says and goes back into the building.

Arizona sits down on the step to wait, when the door opens and Callie and Mark walk out together.

"Good morning," she says.

"Oh, Arizona. Good morning. Why are you just sitting out here?" Callie asks.

"I'm waiting for my roommate, she, uh, went back in to get something." The blonde explains.

"Oh, we'll wait with you and we can all walk in together." Mark replies sitting down beside the blonde.

"Can you tell us anything about the VIP patient?" Callie asks.

"She's not a celebrity, at least not here in the US." Arizona replies, figuring that's a safe comment.

"Oh got it, so she's not American." Callie replies.

"I didn't say that." Arizona reminds her, then standing up she says, "Here comes Addison."

"Oh good morning, Torres, Sloan. Are we walking to work en masse?" She asks a little annoyed.

"We are all going to the same place." Callie points out and notes that the redhead is wearing running shoes and carrying a beautiful pair of Manolo Blahniks in her hand.

"What a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful morning!" Mark says looking from woman to woman as they cross the street.

* * *

"Now the lab is off limits?" Callie asks Bailey that morning. "What the hell is she working on?"

"Addison Montgomery's father just donated new equipment to the lab, so I'm fairly certain that what we're working on will limit access for a while." Arizona replies, over hearing the brunette's complaints.

"Dr Robbins," Bailey says stepping back from the door.

"Uh excuse me Dr Torres." Arizona says waiting for Callie to move to let her past.

"Wait, you're going in there?" She asks confused.

"Yes, I am and I'm late." Arizona points out.

"Two can play this game." Callie replies as the blonde disappears into the lab.

* * *

"You're late." Addison replies looking up from the research she has spread out on the table.

"I had rounds, and I stopped to get you a Chai tea." She says setting the cup in front of her.

"Oh thank you," she says and smiles at the blonde.

"Okay, so where are we?" Arizona asks leaning over her to look at what she's looking at.

Turning around so their faces are inches apart, Addison purrs, "I know where I'd like us to be?"

"Addison, not in the hospital. Remember?" Arizona reminds her.

"But we have this whole lab to ourselves, who would know?" She asks innocently, moving closer to the blonde.

"Uh," Arizona stammers as the redhead pulls her in by her lab coat and begins kissing her.

Breaking the kiss, Addison smiles. "Okay, see I just needed to break the tension. I've been wanting to do that since this morning."

Shaking her head, Arizona is concerned that she's under-estimated the affect of having Addison Montgomery so close to her.

* * *

"So your girlfriend is shacking up with Montgomery?" Yang asks Callie at lunch.

"She's not my girlfriend and Montgomery is staying in her guest room." Callie replies.

"Sure she is." Yang says before taking a bite of her sandwich.

"What are you talking about?" Meredith asks joining them.

"Robbins and Montgomery are shacking up." Cristina repeats.

"What? Wait, Montgomery and Robbins are together? When did this happen?" Meredith asks, then looking at Callie she asks, "I thought you and Robbins were dating?"

"No, they haven't even kissed." Cristina informs Meredith.

"Yang!" Callie says, "Shut up."

Meredith makes an 'oh' expression and looks down to take a bite of her lasagna.

"Mark stayed last night." Cristina adds.

"Cristina, seriously, shut the hell up." Callie hisses at her.

"Wait, if you're still with Mark, why do you care who Robbins is with?" Meredith asks.

"I'm not discussing this with you guys." Callie says storming off.

"Touchy." Cristina says watching her roommate leave.

"So what is going on in the lab?" Meredith asks Cristina.

"Montgomery's dad donated new equipment, must have to do with her VIP case. I researched her, did you know that she's a geneticist and a neonatal surgeon? I'm dying to know what she's working on and why did she need to do it here in Seattle, LA Pres has a top notch research lab." Cristina remarks.

"Robbins is involved. She blocked off her schedule for two weeks with lab time." Meredith remarks.

"Rollergirl is working in the lab with Montgomery?" Cristina asks, then remembers, "Right, Robbins did a neonatal rotation with Montgomery during her Pediatric Surgery fellowship."

"What was Robbins under grad degree?" Meredith asks.

"Let's find out, I bet it was bio chem." Cristina replies.


	8. Chapter 8

**_A/N: This is NOT CALZONA. This is pre-calzona, just as I stated in the story description and the relationship tags! If you're only looking for CALZONA this is not the story for you!_**

* * *

Izzy was surprised to be paged to the lab, but she was smart enough to avoid the others and knock quickly.

"Stevens." Montgomery says opening the door. "Come in."

"Hello Dr Montgomery, can I just say you look beautiful today. I love your hair." Izzy says nervously.

"Thank you Dr Stevens," Addison says rolling her eyes at the compliments.

"Stevens, we asked Bailey for a strong resident to assist on the scut work of this case. You have to be able to work independently of the others and maintain the patient's privacy. Can you agree to do that?" Arizona asks.

"Yes, yes of course. Besides I've pissed off the others and they're not talking to me right now." Stevens admits.

"Even better." Addison remarks.

* * *

After they get Izzy up to speed on the case and what they need her to do with the blood and how to monitor the blood analysis, they realize that they it's time to go see the patient.

"It's time." Arizona says to Addison.

"Time for what?" Izzy asks.

"Time to go see the patient and begin the testing." Addison replies. "Look Stevens, we need you to understand that a lot of work has gone into securing this patient's privacy and security, so we can't have you screwing it up, tell us now if you're going to have a problem with those terms."

"Maybe we should have her wait here." Arizona remarks, "to ensure the patient's anonymity."

"Good point. Stevens wait here and you can review the case file, but no discussing this with anyone." Addison reminds her.

Nodding, Izzy agrees. Although disappointed that she doesn't get to meet the patient, she is still excited to be working on the case and secretly loves that the others will be jealous.

* * *

"Sarah, Rob, I want you to meet Dr Arizona Robbins." Addison says introducing them to the blonde surgeon.

"We've heard great things about you Dr Robbins." Sarah replies as Rob gets up to shake the blonde's hand. "Addison, you didn't tell us how beautiful she is."

At this comment, Arizona is confused as to whether they are discussing her professionally or personally. "It's good to meet you both, I understand you and Dr Montgomery go back to your undergraduate days. We should talk later." Arizona says playfully with a wink.

"That's not going to happen." Addison replies stepping in between them.

* * *

"What do you think of going out for dinner tonight?" Addison asks Arizona as they review the first set of reports.

"Okay," Arizona says distracted and still making notes.

"As a date. I want to take you out for dinner, as a date Arizona." Addison says more clearly.

Looking up now, the blonde considers the request. "I don't think that's a good idea." She says cautiously.

"If we don't go out on dates now, when will we? I live in LA remember?" Addison reminds her.

"You really want to do this?" Arizona asks her. "You haven't ever dated a woman before, why me?"

"Why not you? I like you and you're beautiful, of course I want to go out with you." Addison replies.

"Addison, are you ready to do this publicly. People know this about me, it's not a big deal when I go out with a woman, but you? You don't date women, you dated Mark, you were married to Derek." Arizona reminds her.

"You should know by now that I don't care what people think. The only reason we're sneaking around now, is because I agreed to your ground rules. But now I realize that if we don't take advantage of this time together, then I go back to LA still wondering if this connection that we have is real or circumstantial." Addison replies.

"Circumstantial?" Arizona questions.

"Mark was what I would call a circumstantial attraction. But you, I don't think you are." Addison replies.

"Did you tell our patient that we've been involved?" Arizona blurts out.

"No, but I told her that there was a brilliant surgeon in Seattle who would be perfect to assist me with her case and I told her that you used to be one of my students at Hopkins. Anything else, well she knows me, she may have just read my body language and figured out the rest." Addison admits.

"If we do this, if we go out and it's a disaster, then we go back to being surgeons on this case and continue to make medical history together?" Arizona asks her.

"Of course, but it won't be a disaster." Addison says wetting her lips and leaning forward to kiss the blonde.

* * *

"Uh, hey I'm surprised to see you heading out this early." Callie says when she spots Arizona leaving the locker room in street clothes.

"Yeah, we decided to take off early today and have night out. We have Stevens running the initial blood analysis in the lab, the project really takes off tomorrow." Arizona explains, then realizes that she's said too much. "Uh, don't repeat that. I shouldn't have mentioned any details of this case."

"You brought Stevens in on this?" Callie asks surprised.

"Yeah, we needed a resident. It was Bailey's idea." Arizona replies taking a deep breath.

"Ah, well good choice." Callie admits. "Oh and have a good time tonight." She adds.

"Thanks." Arizona says turning to leave, relieved that Callie's no longer upset with her.

"So can I ask you, is this a date with Addison? Tonight, you're going out with her on a date?" Callie can't help but ask, because she knows that Addison doesn't date women, which means Arizona's reason for turning her down was bunk.

"Calliope..." Arizona begins to say.

"Don't Calliope me, Arizona Robbins, I know that Addison Montgomery has as much or less experience with women than I do." Callie says angrily.

Closing her eyes a minute to think, this is more what she thought Callie's response would be to the news that she was going on a date with Addison after turning the brunette down. Stepping in close to capture the brunette's attention and not make a scene, Arizona says rapidly, "Callie, she and I have already, uh, started something. So it's not the same."

"Right." Callie says sarcastically and walks off.

"Perfect." Arizona says watching her walk ahead of her since they're going the same direction.

* * *

Standing in front of her closet, Arizona considers what to wear on a date with Addison Montgomery. Jeans are definitely out, she realizes. Then reaching into the back of her closet, she pulls out two cocktail dresses. One is black and the other is a cobalt blue that makes her eyes pop. She quickly slips it on to see if it still fits her.

In the other bedroom, Addison is surveying the clothes that she has with her and decides to wear the red dress. Slipping it on, she marvels at the cut of the dress and how well it clings to her body. Tonight will end well, she just knows it.

"Wow", Addison says when she enters the living room to see Arizona pouring two glasses of wine.

"Wow, indeed." The blonde replies leaning against the counter and drinking in the red dress clinging in all the right places.

Crossing the room, Addison approaches the blonde and Arizona hands her a glass of wine.

The blonde holds her glass up for a toast, "May we always look forward with pleasure and backwards without regret."

"Mmm," Addison purrs, "I'm starting to think that this was an amazing idea." She leans in and looks the blonde up and down slowly savoring every inch of her in that blue dress.

Unable to take it, Arizona moves in closer and takes the glass away from her, "If we don't leave now, I'm afraid that we'll never make it out of this apartment."

"You say that, like it's a bad thing?" Addison teases.

* * *

Callie has rallied Mark, Alex and Cristina to have drinks at Joe's and they are playing darts in the corner when she looks up and spots the two women entering the bar. Rolling her eyes, she snatches the darts out of Cristina's hand and takes her turn for her.

"Torres, it's my turn!" Cristina says as Alex let's out a whistle and they all turn towards the door.

"Holy hell, now that's hot times two," he exclaims.

Mark leers appreciatively along with Alex. "I couldn't be more proud of Robbins, she's like the kid sister I never had." Mark says proudly.

"Hmmpf," Callie says taking his drink and finishing it off. "Get me another drink Mark, I'm going to need if I have to listen to you all night."

"I'm going in," Mark says heading up to the bar.

"We need shots," Cristina says to Alex. "Go evil spawn, get us shots, can't you see she's in pain here?"

"Ladies, you look stunning. May I buy you a drink?" Mark asks as he approaches them.

"No Mark, go away." Arizona replies, annoyed that Addison insisted on having drinks at Joe's before going back to the apartment. She suspects that this is Addison's way of 'coming out' and she gets it, but they just had a wonderful dinner and Arizona wanted nothing more than to go back to her apartment and get the redhead out of that dress.

"Oh, let's have scotch. The wine here sucks. Mark, get me a good single malt. Arizona?" Addison asks taking her hand and pulling her closer.

"Joe, my usual." She says and adds, "make it a double."

Joe laughs and pulls down the bottle of Don Julio Anejo from the top shelf and pours it for her. Then he takes a bottle of Macallan 15 and pours it for Addison and Mark.

Arizona leans forward and picks up her glass and turns around to see Karev buying shots. She watches him and he heads over to Callie and Cristina. "Fuck," she says under her breath.

"Honey?" Addison says leaning in and whispering into her ear, "is there a problem?" She asks almost kissing the blonde's ear with her lips.

Involuntarily, Arizona shudders and turns back around to her, noting the playful look at her face, she decides to tease back, "Hey Mark, pool table, now," she calls back to him.

"Okay, Blondie, you're on," he says glancing over at Callie and shrugging.

Cristina notices and says, "Fuck, we need more shots." And she heads up to the bar.

"This is going to be good." Alex says sipping on his beer.

Cristina returns with a tray of shots and Callie takes one and then takes the the other two with her and heads over to the pool table.

"Oh shit, I should probably stop her, she's going to make a scene." Cristina says, then sits down beside Alex and takes a sip of his beer.

He glares at her and she says, "Callie took all the shots!"


	9. Chapter 9

**_A/N: Dude, this is NOT CALZONA. This is pre-calzona, just as I stated in the story description and reflected in the relationship tags! If you're only looking for CALZONA this is not the story for you!_**

* * *

At the pool table, Arizona picking out a stick and talking smack to Mark. Addison is a little shocked by her display, but also turned on by it.

"Do you play?" Callie asks as she slips up behind the redhead.

"Uh, no thank you. I'm just going to stand here and watch." Addison says thickly turning to see the brunette looking jealous, which is confusing to her. Is she jealous of Arizona and Mark, or her and Mark.

"I think you should get off the sidelines and into the game." Callie says nudging her with her shoulder as she goes past her and lays a big sloppy kiss on Mark. "Let's play couples," she says draping herself on Mark and then turning around to face the blonde.

Now it's Arizona's turn to look uncomfortable, but Addison quickly comes to her rescue. "We'll play you two. Oh this will be fun." She says taking the cue stick from Arizona and kissing her on the lips. "My break. Mark rack 'em up."

"She plays?" Callie whispers to Mark, suddenly a little nervous.

"You just poked the bear Torres," he remarks downing the rest of his scotch and looking around the room. Spotting Karev he barks at him, "get us another round from Joe."

Coming back with the drinks, Alex notices that Addison has sunk four balls straight and has a combination shot lined up; Torres is staring a hole through Robbins; and Mark is smirking at the three hot women that he's playing pool with, oblivious to the sexual tension between them that doesn't include him.

Callie takes Arizona's drink off the tray and reaches over Mark to hand it to the blonde, "I think this is yours," she says tossing her hair and leaning forward to put her cleavage on display for the blonde.

Addison looks up and misses the shot. Mark yelps, then looks over and realizes what Callie did to distract the redhead.

Arizona takes the drink and then reaches over and puts her hand over Addison's. "Good run, babe," she says kissing her lightly.

"What is that about? Do you have a thing with Torres?" Addison asks.

"No, we're just friends. She's competitive, she just did that to get you to miss." Arizona explains.

"Okay, well we're leaving after this game. I'm tired of sharing you with these people." Addison whispers and lightly teases her ear with a little tongue action.

The blonde shudders again.

"You're up blondie." He says after missing his second shot.

Arizona looks down the table and quickly spots her shot and lines it up completely focused. Just as she's pulling back the stick, Callie begins to move and Addison quickly blocks her by squaring around. "Not this time Torres," she says as she hears the crack of the shot.

The blonde moves and takes the next shot quickly, then the next and as she sinks the 8 ball, she walks over to Mark and says "Suck it Sloan."

Mark laughs and then looks over where Callie and Addison are still staring each other down, Arizona follows his sight line and they both go over to the women. Arizona pulls the redhead away and says, "Home. Now Addison."

Addison turns to the blonde and pulls her back to her and kisses her long and hard right there in the middle of the bar, before turning to Mark and waving good bye.

"Dude, that was so fricking hot." Alex says looking over at Cristina.

"Yeah," she agrees then watches as Callie goes over to Mark and kisses him hard. "But this is not gonna be pretty." Cristina says watching Callie throw herself at Sloan.

* * *

Arizona and Addison grab a cab as soon as they exit the bar. Arizona can barely get the address out of her mouth before Addison's tongue is in it. "Addison, hold up. Let me pay for the cab, we're here." Arizona says softly pulling away from her.

"Here," she says handing the man a $100 bill and climbing out of the cab pulling the blonde behind her.

"I think you just gave him $100 for driving us three blocks, you're insane." Arizona says laughing.

"I love that dress on you, but it will look pretty amazing on the floor." Addison says pulling her up the stairs and kissing her again.

"Did you just give me a Sloan line?" Arizona says pulling away from her and laughing again.

"I'm thinking about you naked and you're thinking about Mark Sloan? Clearly, I'm not doing this right." Addison says pushing her into the elevator and pinning her against the wall with more kisses.

"Ah, no, no, you're doing it right, but we need to get into the apartment," Arizona says pulling her dress back up as Addison has managed to unzip it in the back.

"I don't think I've ever been this turned on by a game of pool." Addison says thickly waiting for the blonde to unlock the door. Maybe we should play pool more often?" She suggests.

"I'm just glad that you can play, otherwise we'd still be there." Arizona says pushing her into the apartment and closing the door behind them.

"I'm just glad that you live nearby and we're not having sex in a dirty bar bathroom." Addison says thickly, pulling the blonde's dress down and kissing her ample cleavage.

"Oh god, me too." Arizona says moving her hands to unzip the red dress. The both slip off their heels and then fall down in a heap as their dresses fall down around them.

* * *

A pager is going off and Arizona can barely open her eyes, she reaches over to her nightstand and grabs it, but it's not hers. "Addison, where's your pager?" She asks hoarsely.

"Kitchen." Addison moans. "God, is that my pager? What time is it?"

"Fuck, it's after 8. We're late." Arizona says sitting up and looking at her phone.

"Oh, my pager is dead." She says heading into the kitchen and retrieving Addison's. "Its Stevens." The blonde says and tosses the pager on the bed beside Addison and adding her phone for good measure.

"I've got to shower." Arizona says yawning.

"Good idea." Addison says finally moving. She look at her phone and there are three missed calls from Stevens. So she calls her back, "We're running late. See you in 30 minutes." She says and hangs up. Then she hears the shower turn on and she smiles, maybe I should have said 45 minutes.

"Addie no, we're late." Arizona protests when the redhead joins her in the shower and begins kissing her.

"I'm going to be thinking about this all day," Addison says looking at the blonde naked in the shower.

"Fuck," Arizona says and crashes into her, kissing her way down the lithe body of the redhead.

* * *

Izzy is in the lab when the two surgeons walk in an hour later. She can tell that they had a rough night because she notices the swollen lips, despite the carefully applied lip liner. "Sorry, I was just surprised when neither of you responded to the page and both your phones went unanswered." She says embarrassed, now understanding why.

"It's fine, we should have been here at eight, Stevens. Go ahead and give us the results." Addison says impatiently.

Nervously, the blonde reviews the first round of the analysis and outlines the areas of concern. Addison takes her time reviewing the scans and then puts the slides through the microscope to check for abnormal shaped cells.

"Here," Addison says turning the microscope to Arizona.

"Where's the before?" Arizona asks and Addison switches the slides. "Okay, we're on the right track." Arizona replies pushing away.

"So far, so good." Addison agrees. "Let's go upstairs and let them know."

"Um, ladies. You should let me, just hold on." Izzy says motioning for them to stay seated. "I'll be right back."

* * *

In the elevator, Arizona starts laughing. And then Addison asks, "Did our resident just help fix our appearance, so our patient won't know that we were up all night having sex?"

"Yes." Arizona replies nodding. "So much for keeping this out of the hospital." She says moving away from the redhead in the elevator.

* * *

"Fuck my life," Callie says walking into the kitchen the next morning and glaring at Cristina eating cereal.

"I made coffee." Cristina replies.

Pouring herself a cup and taking a drink. Callie looks over at her roommate, "You should have stopped getting me shots once they got there."

"Seriously, that's when you needed shots. Do you even remember the pool game?" Cristina asks.

"No, I don't." Callie replies confused. "We played pool?"

"See, you're welcome." Cristina says satisfied that she did her job.

"What I don't remember playing pool." Callie says again.

"Oh, well you didn't get to. Mark sucks at pool and the Vagina patrol kicked your asses." Cristina replies. Then realizes her joke has a double entendre, she repeats it, "hey Vagina patrol, get it?"

Glaring at her, Callie refills her cup and leaves the room.

* * *

Izzy decides to take a break and heads to the pit to see what's going on and she overhears Alex and Cristina replaying last night at Joe's for Meredith.

"Oh you should have seen it, Robbins in a cocktail dress, Sloan drooling over her and Addison and then they hand him his ass at pool." Cristina says.

"They were smoking hot, I don't think I could have made a shot against them either." Alex admits.

"What are you talking about?" She asks walking up to them.

"Robbins and Montgomery showed up at Joe's last night in cocktail dresses, apparently they had a date." Cristina explains.

"Ah," Izzy replies, she was pretty sure that's what she saw evidence of this morning.

"Where have you been?" Meredith asks, suddenly realizing that she hasn't seen Stevens all morning.

"I'm assigned to Montgomery." She replies, "So I'm doing analysis in the lab all day."

"Wait, are you in on the VIP patient?" Cristina asks unusually interested in a non-cardio case.

"I'm just doing the lab analysis for them." Izzy replies down playing her role.

"So who's the patient? Is it a celebrity?" Alex asks.

"I don't know. But I don't think so, it appears to just be some super rich friend of Montgomery's." Izzy remarks.

"Oh, well who cares about that." Cristina replies.

"What are they doing with a new ATX 6000 and a Hokum microscope?" Meredith asks.

"Using it for analysis." Izzy replies turning to leave.


	10. Chapter 10

For the next week or so, Arizona and Addison settled into a routine of work, lunch in the lab, dinner at home and no drinking at Joe's. It did not go unnoticed by the residents and became a regular topic of conversation at the lunch table with the residents.

"How's the project going, Izzy?" Meredith asks the blonde.

"Fine. Successful. Really interesting, they're planning to publish." Izzy replies.

"What are they like together?" Meredith asks curiously, even though she's on Robbins' service, she rarely sees them together.

"Like surgeons on a project, they aren't making out in the lab or anything. They're working." Izzy replies, not going to give them any inside info on the couple. Izzy figures if she refrains from all gossip, she has a chance to get listed on the project when it's published.

"Hey Stevens, Grey, Yang," Callie says joining them for lunch. "What are you talking about?"

"Izzy won't tell us anything about the project or what it's like to work with Montgomery and Robbins." Meredith explains.

"Good for you Stevens." Callie replies, then to the others she adds, "Robbins hates hospital gossip."

"What are you doing here Torres, you finally come up for air or does Sloan actually have a patient to attend to?" Cristina asks sarcastically.

"Shut it Yang. See that's what I'm talking about with the hospital gossip, no wonder you weren't picked for the project." Callie says annoyed with her roommate as usual.

"Who cares, it's all research, I need to cut to live." Yang replies popping another chip into her mouth.

A pagers goes off and Meredith checks, its hers, it's 911 to Peds, as she grabs her stuff, she sees Alex at another table, "Alex! What are you doing down here?" She asks as she rushes past him. He scrambles after her and as they round the corner, they spot Arizona and Addison slipping into the room before them. It's a code blue on a 7 year old with cancer, Alex is stunned, he just left the patient's room 10 minutes ago and he was fine. Well, fine for a 7 year old with cancer. The two residents watch the two surgeons lead the code blue team and get him back.

Arizona looks up at her residents and says, "My office, now."

"Was there something confusing about my request that one of you stay on the floor at all times today?" She begins as they enter her office.

"I was only gone for five minutes..." Alex begins to explain.

"Did you know that Grey was at lunch?" Arizona asks cutting him off.

"Yes, but..." he begins again.

"Shut it, Karev. You're off my service," she says dismissing him.

Watching him leave, she turns to Meredith, "Grey, I need you to stay on the floor for the next 24 hours. You'll alternate with Stevens. I'll send her out to get familiar with the cases. Stevie may need a palliative surgery to relieve the pressure in her colon in the next few hours and you'll be scrubbing in on it with me. I'll be staying here tonight too." Robbins explains.

Nodding, Meredith is just relieved that Alex's mistake didn't get them both kicked off Robbins' service.

* * *

Returning to the lab, Arizona informs Stevens that she's now on her service and sends her down to see Grey.

"Are you okay?" Addison asks the blonde, once they're alone in the lab.

"Karev has so much promise, but he needs to get out of his own way." She says frustrated by the resident's disregard of her request.

"There's not much he could have done before we got there." Addison points out.

"I know. I just thought Stevie had more time, she's slipping away faster than I expected she would. I told Grey to redo the ultrasound and check the size of the tumor, but I've already booked the OR for 4pm, we're going to have to go in and resect more and she's barely strong enough..." she tears up and takes a deep breath, then continues, "she's not strong right now."

"I know, is this the case you were telling me about? The parents are stationed overseas and the Aunt is the caretaker and has 4 kids of her own and is never here?" Addison asks.

The blonde nods. "Yeah, I need to call her and discuss options. She needs to tell the parents so they can come home and see her, Stevie doesn't have much time left." Arizona says sadly.

Unable to just sit there and watch the blonde be upset, Addison wraps her arms around her to comfort her.

"I didn't think it would be like this." Addison says softly into the blonde's hair.

Arizona pulls away to look at her, "Like what?"

"You, you hurting makes my heart hurt," she replies and Arizona notices the tears in her eyes too.

"Um, wow." Arizona says softly and reaches up to brush a tear away with her thumb.

"This is real, uh?" Addison whispers.

Nodding, Arizona gently presses her lips to Addison's and they kiss tenderly.

Until they're interrupted by her pager. "It's Stevie." Arizona says glancing at the pager and rushing out of the lab.

* * *

Arizona enters the patient's room and is relieved to see the Aunt is there.

"Sorry, she insisted on having you paged. She has a call set up with the parents in fifteen minutes." Meredith explains.

"Okay, that's good. I'm glad you paged me." Arizona replies. "Uh, Dr Robbins step out with me a minute." Izzy says and as they exit the room she adds, "You look like you've been upset. And this is a Skype call."

"Oh right, okay. I'll be right back. Thanks Stevens." She replies and heads to the restroom in her office to take a minute to freshen up.

The call with the parents is difficult, they didn't realize how sick Stevie was and now they understand that they need to get home quickly. The mother is devastated when she sees her child in the bed and it's all they can all do to hold it together for her. Fortunately Stevie falls asleep and they take the laptop into Arizona's office to continue the call.

"I'm planning to take her into the OR in a few hours to resect the colon and reduce the pressure of the tumor. The tumor itself is still inoperable." Arizona explains.

"Is she strong enough for surgery?" The father asks.

"I think so and it will buy us time for you to get here." Arizona explains.

"Okay, do it. We'll be on the next transport and should land at SeaTac tomorrow afternoon. Dr Robbins, please do everything that you can for her." He says, his voice cracking with emotion.

"Of course, Sargent." She says noting the stripes on his sleeve.

After the call ends, Arizona talks to the Aunt and explains the plan. Meredith follows her out to prep the patient for surgery.

* * *

Stevie's surgery is tough, but she makes through. Grey and Robbins are scrubbing out when Callie sticks her head in to check on them, "Hey Bailey just told me what's going on with this one, how did it go?" She asks concerned for her friend.

Looking up at brunette, Robbins surprised to see her and is still a little annoyed at her about the drunken pool game and knows that she's been dodging her since. "It went okay," she replies finally.

"Good." Callie says and turns to leave.

"Does this mean you're going to stop avoiding me?" The blonde asks.

"Uh, you noticed that, did you?" She says embarrassed.

"Look, I'm sorry that I hurt you. I really like you and I really need a friend here. But I understand if you don't want to." Arizona replies.

"No, no that's not it. I do want to be your friend, I just got in my head that, look it's fine, I understand that you and Addison are together and I don't want to come between you." She explains.

"So you'll stop avoiding me? And you'll stop doing shots whenever you see us together?" She teases.

"Yes and definitely yes," she replies and flashes a smile at the blonde.

"Okay, one more question, would you and Mark like to come by tomorrow night for dinner?" She asks.

"Uh, no. Mark and I are just friends, now, no benefits. He's sort of seeing someone now." Callie explains.

"Okay, well let me talk with Addison and see what she wants to do. Maybe we can figure something else out."Arizona replies, understanding that the three of them at dinner would be awkward.

"Tell you what, Yang and I have been talking about having a thing. So let me, uh talk to her and we'll see what her schedule is like, maybe we'll have you guys over to our place for drinks and a game night or something." Callie suggests.

"Okay, well that sounds good. Keep me posted." Arizona replies and flashes a smile. "Thanks Callie."


	11. Chapter 11

_**Sorry to the folks who are still thinking this is going to be Calzona. It's not, this an AU. Also, note that Addison and Callie are not close friends, so there's no betrayal of friendship here either. If this things bother you, then you may not want to continue reading this story. I have written Calzona stories and you may want to read those, they are clearly marked as Calzona.**_

 _ **Now for the rest of you who are enjoying this story, thank you for you comments and reviews! You guys are awesome and amazing and I hope you'll stay tuned for more...**_

* * *

"I saw Callie today and she and Yang are thinking about having a game night and she asked if we'd like to join them?" Arizona mentions to Addison that night.

"I thought you were going to invite her and Mark over for dinner?" Addison asks confused.

"Well, they're not seeing each other. Apparently, he's moved on." Arizona replies.

"Figures. Do you think it's a good idea to go to her place and drink though?" Addison asks.

"She's promised me that she's not going to do that again and she's embarrassed about it. I'd like you two to get to know each other, she is my friend." Arizona points out.

"Okay, if you say so. Then I'm in." Addison replies crossing the room and pulling her close, "As long as she knows that I'm the only one who gets to do this," she whispers thickly before kissing the blonde.

* * *

"You what?" Yang asks when Callie informs her that they are hosting a game night in their apartment. "I don't even know what that means, what is game night?"

"Oh, right. We don't even have any games. Hey, let's go shopping." Callie says excitedly.

"Wait, what kind of games are we talking about here? Cristina asks. "I'm not playing something stupid like Trivial Pursuit and no drawing games either and no acting crap out."

"Cristina, those are all fun games. What do you want to play video games? I'll go right out and get Call of Duty." Callie says sarcastically.

"Oh let's get a Playstation, now that sounds like fun." Cristina says grabbing her purse.

"Seriously? Video games?" Callie asks following her out of the apartment.

* * *

"I've created a monster." Callie says the next day when she runs into Arizona at the coffee cart.

"How so?" Arizona asks smiling at her.

"Game night to Yang means we have to play video games, so we went out and bought a Playstation, she's been playing Grand Theft Auto since 8 pm last night." Callie explains.

"Oh that's bad. She's going to really hard to beat." Arizona replies.

"You do not play video games, do you?" Callie asks.

I'm a peds surgeon, of course, I play video games. Its important to be able to relate to the kids," she explains before laughing, "Actually, I played them with my brother, we also played a lot of Call of Duty before he left for the military."

"I-I didn't know that you have a brother. Where is he now?" Callie asks.

"He's no longer around. Afghanistan 2004." Arizona says quickly.

"Arizona, I'm sorry. I didn't know." Callie replies, unsure what else to say.

"I know you didn't know, but I told you. I don't talk about it, I mean Addison knows, but she was there after I found out, when everything..." Arizona's voice trails off for a moment, "Wow, I totally derailed this conversation." She says looking up a moment and composing herself.

"Tell Yang, I'm going to kick her ass at game night." Arizona says before turning to leave.

Callie watches her go and takes another sip of her coffee. Arizona Robbins is unlike anyone she's ever known before, she thinks.

* * *

"Video games?" Addison is annoyed. First, she has agreed to go to Arizona's friends' place for game night and now she finds out it's video games. "You owe me big time Robbins. And to start, you better go get me a decent bottle of scotch so I can endure this evening." She teases.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll make it up to you," Arizona says moving in close to kiss her. "Plus you have no idea how hot I am when I'm playing video games."

"I think you are over-estimating my ability to appreciate video games and you're hot brushing your teeth." She teases her.

"Besides, Mark and Lexie will be there too. So it's not like you'll just have to sit there and watch." Arizona informs her.

"Oh darling, you have no idea what you're asking of me." Addison replies, smiling mischievously.

"I promise to make it up to you." Arizona remarks.

"Oh and you will. You'll have a night out with my friends in LA, that's how you'll make it up to me." Addison replies smirking.

"Uh, okay." Arizona reluctantly agrees and now nervously wonders what she's just agreed to.

* * *

"Rollergirl thinks she's got game?" Yang says that night when Callie informs her that not only is game night on, but Robbins has challenged her.

"Oh and I invited Mark and Lexie, Stevens' and Karev are considering it, but we'll probably only get one of them." Callie says ignoring her roommate's comments. "Now remember that you and Arizona cannot hog the game console, everyone else will want to play too."

"Okay, well we have Mario Kart for the others." Yang says dismissively.

"What kind of snacks should we get for game night." Callie asks changing the subject and realizing that Cristina hasn't turned the game console on, so maybe she can get her to help.

"Whatever, you get the food, I'll get the liquor." Cristina replies.

"Okay, deal." Callie says and she reaches for her phone, then puts it down. Reconsiders and picks it back up, "Mark?" she says when he answers the phone, "I need your help with food for the party."

* * *

"You're cooking for the party?" Addison asks, when she overhears Mark and Callie in the lounge.

"Uh, yeah. Oh right, you haven't been around me lately. I've taken up cooking Addison. Torres and I have made some amazing dishes together. You just wait, the menu for game night is going to knock your socks off." He says proudly.

"Interesting," she says withholding further comment as she notes that Torres is watching her closely.

Watching the redhead leave the lounge, Callie finally can't help herself, "What's her deal Mark?"

"What do you mean?" He asks.

"She's rich and so refined, I just don't get it, she doesn't seem like a 'video game' person, let alone a game night person." Callie points out.

"Wait, don't you have a trust fund and didn't you grow up in a beach house in Palm Beach?" He asks her.

"Uh, yeah, but no one knows that." She hisses at him. "Look, I'm nothing like her. I play video games, I drink beer and I don't make people feel like they are not worthy of my time." Callie replies.

"Whoa, I know what this is about now. You totally could be Addison and now that she's got the girl, you're rethinking your strategy. Look Torres, Robbins doesn't give a flip about Addison's money and I'm sure she wouldn't care one way or another about your either. That's not what this is about. And she'd really be pissed off if she knew that you thought it would. You and Addison have so much in common, in any other situation, you two would be friends." He remarks.

"Yeah right." Callie replies sarcastically.

* * *

"Is that what you're wearing?" Addison asks when she enters the living room and finds Arizona in jeans and a t shirt.

"Yes, it's game night. You could dress more comfortably too, you know." Arizona points out.

"You don't think I can do this, do you?" Addison asks.

"Of course you can do this, I'm just sorry that you're not going to have any fun tonight. I told Yang that we needed to play first, so that we can leave early." Arizona informs her.

"Wait, you really don't think I can have fun at game night? You don't think that I'm fun?" Addison asks her girlfriend.

"Oh I know that you're fun. I just don't think you're a game night kind of person." Arizona replies carefully.

"You're wrong and I'm going to prove it." Addison says turning to leave and go change clothes. "Okay, so I may need to borrow a t-shirt." She says sticking her head back in the living room.

"I'll see what I can find." Arizona replies playfully.


	12. Chapter 12

Arizona and Addison show up and Callie can't believe that Addison is wearing a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers.

"Hey welcome to game night." Callie says letting them into the apartment.

"Where's Yang?" Arizona asks once they've exchanged greetings.

"She and Lexie went to the liquor store, they should be back any time." Callie explains, rejoining Mark in the kitchen.

"Good, I need to show Addison a few things on the Playstation." Arizona says taking her girlfriend's hand and leading her to the couch.

"Help yourself, we're just finishing up in here." Callie says.

"This food is amazing, Cal." Mark replies when she steals a bite.

* * *

"Needed to practice, knock the rust off?" Cristina asks going over to join Arizona and Addison on the couch.

"Just showing Addison a few things. And I haven't played this new version." Arizona explains.

Lexie comes over and offers them beers and the each take one. Arizona looks over at Addison surprised. The redhead raises an eyebrow challenging her to say something.

Instead the blonde leans over and kisses her lightly.

Cristina takes this opportunity to grab the console out of her hands. "Yang!" Arizona yells, then reaches over and grabs the console from Addison as Cristina starts a game.

Addison takes another swig of her beer and sits back to watch the two women compete.

Callie comes over and offers her a plate of bruchetta bites. "Here, you should try this."

Addison smiles and takes the plate and pops one in her mouth. "Oh that's really good." She says taking one and offering it to Arizona, who opens her mouth but keeps playing the game.

Addison rolls her eyes and gets up and heads into the kitchen to talk to Mark.

"Where's Mark?" She asks Callie.

"Oh, they just stepped into the guest room for a minute." Callie replies and takes a sip of her wine.

Addison looks at her wine and asks, "What are you drinking?"

"Oh, this is a Pinot Noir from nearby winery, I discovered at a wine tasting last week." Callie replies.

"May I try it?" She asks.

"Of course," Callie says getting a glass and pouring her some.

"Nice," Addison remarks and Callie adds more to her glass. "Where did you go to the wine tasting?"

While she and Callie discuss wine, Arizona and Cristina talk smack while playing Grand Theft Auto.

Lexie and Mark exit the bedroom and Callie notices that Lexie went right over to the couch and he came over to her and Addison. "Everything okay Mark?" she asks.

"Yes, I may have misjudged bringing my new girlfriend to a party with two of my exes." He replies grimacing.

"Oh we're not exes." Callie replies, "We didn't date exactly."

"We didn't date exactly either Mark." Addison replies.

"Great, so that's a fun conversation." He says sarcastically and takes a plate of food and heads to the couch.

"Ladies, you're not even trying any of this great food." He says sitting down beside Arizona.

"I did and it's really amazing Mark." Arizona replies not taking her eyes off the game.

"Okay, so who's winning?" He asks.

"I am", they both say in unison.

"Arizona only has one car left to deliver," Lexie replies.

"Okay, so then we can get a multi-player game going?" Mark asks them.

"Yeah, sure." Yang says watching the blonde deliver her last car.

* * *

Callie and Addison are still talking in the kitchen about wine and local vineyards.

"You really know a lot about wine, Callie. What aren't you telling me?" Addison asks giving her a long look.

"Uh, we have a place in Napa, my folks have a place in Napa. We spend Christmas there every year so I've learned a lot about wine," she explains.

"Ah, so what do your folks do?" Addison asks.

"My parents are in the hospitality industry." Callie replies. "They own a few resorts in Florida and California."

"Resorts," Addison repeats.

"You've probably never heard of them." Callie replies. "They are in Boca Raton, Palm Beach and Palm Springs."

"Oh, wait. Bizzy and The Captain take a lot of golf vacations, I think they've probably stayed at your resorts." She replies.

"Bizzy and The Captain?" Callie asks.

"Her parents," Arizona says joining the conversation and taking a sip of Addison's wine. "Oh this is good." She replies and leans over and takes a bruschetta off the platter.

"Are you guys finally sharing the game?" Callie asks.

"Yes, Cristina is giving them some tips on Call of Duty and we're going to play that next. I can't decide if I want Lexie or Mark on my team, though. What do you think?" She asks the two women.

"Take Lexie," Callie suggests.

"Hey, you both should come over and learn this game too." Arizona suggests.

Callie looks over and watches a few minutes and then shakes her head, "Shooting people isn't my thing," she replies.

"Would you rather steal cars?" Arizona asks, and the two women look at her strangely, "The other game, involves stealing cars. You really weren't paying attention were you?"

"No, we were talking about wine and resorts." Addison remarks.

"Robbins, get over here. It's time to get your ass kicked." Yang yells over to her. "And get me another beer."

Popping another bruschetta into her mouth, Arizona rolls her eyes and heads to the fridge and grabs a beer, then decides to grab one for each of them. She takes the opener and pops all four caps quickly.

"Uh, what was that?" Callie asks her. "You either drink way more beer than you let on, or you've bartended."

"She bartended in college at a resort in the summers," Addison replies. "We should have a cocktail party and let her make us drinks."

"I heard that and it's not gonna happen." Arizona calls out.

"Oh, teach me to bartend. I've always wanted to do that." Cristina says taking a beer from the blonde.

"I will teach you how to make the two most important drinks, come over tomorrow night." She replies.

"What are they?" Callie asks Addison.

"I'm not sure, but my guess is a dirty martini and a old fashioned. Those are her two favorite drinks." Addison replies.

"How long have you known Arizona?" Callie can't help but ask.

"I've known her since her fourth year of med school, so what is that about five years?" Addison replies.

"And Mark, how long have you known him? Callie asks.

"Oh Mark and I go all the way back to freshman year of college. He and Derek tried to pick me and Naomi up at a party." Addison explains.

"Were they awkward and shy?" Callie asks.

"God no, I think they both were cocky out of the womb." She replies laughing.

* * *

"I think they're going to play this all night." Addison says yawning.

"I think you may be right. I'm going to start cleaning up, if you want to go over and watch." Callie suggests.

"No, I'm not interested in watching the carnage. I'll help clean up." Addison offers.

"Oh no, you're a guest. I'll get it. Just have another glass of wine." Callie replies.

"Torres, I'd like to help." Addison replies.

"Okay, it's just I'm not used to anyone helping around here. Yang barely picks up after herself." Callie explains.

* * *

"Did you have an okay time?" Arizona asks when they get back to her apartment.

"I did. Callie is not what I expected from an ortho or from Palm Beach." Addison replies.

"You might want to keep talking because I'm sure you didn't mean it the way it sounds." Arizona remarks.

"I've met people from Palm Beach and all they talk about is shopping, golf and partying at clubs." Addison explains. "And I haven't met many ortho surgeons who talk about anything other than work. It was refreshing and she's delightful."

"I'm glad that you like her, because apparently she and Yang are coming over for drinks tomorrow night." Arizona reminds her.

"Right, you offered to teach Yang how to make cocktails." Addison replies. "That surprised me, I thought you saved those skills for impressing the girls." She teases.

"That's exactly why I'm doing it. If I remember correctly, you like to watch." Arizona teases.

"You're going to bring up that party now?" Addison replies playfully.

"Yeah, I am. That party could have ended so differently, had you not left so early." Arizona replies taking her into her arms and kissing her neck.

"That's exactly why I left early, I was still married Arizona." Addison points out.

"Technically, you were separated." Arizona counters.

"You were my fellow, it would have been complicated." She admits.

"Oh, you have no idea how complicated." Arizona replies slipping her hands under the t-shirt and pulling it over her head.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I just watched 1205 twice, ugh so painful.** _ **Coincidentally, I watched the bomb episode from 216 today and that was almost as stressful as this one was. Shonda is evil to set that up, painful all the way around.**_

* * *

"I can't believe it, but I like Addison. She is not what I expected at all." Callie tells Cristina.

"Good because we're going over to their place tomorrow night and Robbins is going to give me a bartending lesson." Cristina reminds her before finishing off her beer.

"We need less violent games video games, my ears are ringing from all the gunfire from that last game." Callie says standing up and yawning.

"We have Mario Cart, I'll teach you how to play it tomorrow." Cristina replies sarcastically.

"You should have gotten Streetfighter, I like that one. You get to break bones and faces." Callie says as she heads down the hall.

"Streetfighter? Seriously Torres you were holding out on me!" She calls after her.

* * *

"What are you talking about?" Meredith asks Cristina the next day.

"I'm busy tonight, Robbins is giving me a bartending lesson." Cristina repeats.

"Are you saying that you're going to Robbins' place tonight for drinks? Will Addison be there? This is all very strange, when did you get to be friends with them?" Meredith asks.

"You're never around and Robbins lives in our building and she's friends with Callie, so they were over last night and..."

"You had them over last night?" Meredith interrupts her.

"Yeah, it was game night. Robbins and I played Call of Duty with Mark and Lexie." Cristina explains.

"Wait you invited my sister to game not and not me?" Meredith asks annoyed.

"Well Addison and Arizona and Mark were there, did you really think Derek wanted to be in that room?" Cristina points out.

"Okay, so I'm coming tonight. Screw Derek, he's doing something with Mark tonight any way." Meredith replies.

"Mer, you're not invited." Cristina says giving her the sad face.

"You need to get me invited, you owe me Yang." Meredith says as she gets paged and has to rush back to the pit.

* * *

"Grey, bring that ultrasound in here," Robbins yells to her as she rounds the corner.

Meredith grabs it and pushed it into the trauma room. "What do we have?" she asks.

"Nine year old thrown by a horse, he came in by chopper. His parents will be here in a few minutes." Arizona informs her and they quickly examine the child.

"His abdomen is rigid," Meredith says setting up the ultrasound. "He's bleeding internally, maybe a ruptured spleen."

Arizona examines him quickly and confirms the diagnosis, "Okay, call up for an OR and bring in the portable x-ray, oh and call CT and see if we can get him in on the way to the OR." She says rapidly to the nurse.

Alex comes in with the tech and the portable x-ray and Meredith says, "Nice try, but this is mine," and she pushes him out of the room.

Arizona hides her smile and instructs the tech on what she needs, then she and Meredith step out of the room.

"You stay with the x-rays and I'll take him to CT, and we'll meet in OR 4 and review everything. Got it?" Robbins says and as soon as the door opens she goes in with the ER nurse and they come out with the patient and head to CT.

"What are you doing still here? I thought that was yours?" Alex asks sarcastically.

"It is mine. I'm waiting for the x-rays." She replies as she follows the tech.

As soon as the tech hands her the films she sticks them up on the light box and says, "Crap."

* * *

Meredith arrives at OR 4 and Robbins isn't there yet, so she pages Torres to OR 4 and is shocked when she pops in a few minutes later. "What's up Grey? There's uh, no patient here." She says confused.

"There will be, Robbins has a nine year old in CT with a ruptured spleen, but I paged you because I have his x-rays." She explains.

Callie takes them and holds them up to the light. "Have you let Robbins know?" She asks.

"No, I just brought them right up here, this is where she's headed after CT." Meredith reminds her.

Taking her phone out, Callie calls Robbins, "He's got two fractured vertebra in his back, I'm holding his x-rays." Callie says as soon as Arizona answers her phone.

"Callie? What." She asks confused.

"Don't let them take him off the backboard for the CT. Just do a head CT." Callie says rapidly and hears Arizona yell.

"Why would they take him off the backboard for a head CT?" Meredith asks.

"Because Jerry is the CT tech today and always wants to take them off the backboard." Callie explains.

"I-I-I didn't know that." Meredith replies.

"But you called me and I did, so it's good. Let's get scrubbed, so that we can start as soon as they get here. You said it's a ruptured spleen? Have you done one of those before?" Callie asks the young resident.

"Yes, with Webber." She replies.

"Okay, go over it with me." Callie says as they begin to scrub. She wants to distract her so she will relax and forget about what almost happened.

Arizona bursts into the scrub room and notices that Callie and Meredith are ready so she yells, "Go, I'll be right in."

A few minutes later, Arizona enters the OR and notices that Callie is letting the resident cut, so she asks, "Okay where are we Dr Grey?"

"I just clamped the last bleeder, suction please," she says to the surgical nurse, "now I need to remove the spleen and repair that ruptured vessels."

"Excellent, is there any other bleeding that you can see?" Arizona asks standing across from her and beside Callie.

"No." She says carefully.

"Dr Torres, what is your plan to repair the fractured vertebrae?" Arizona asks.

As Callie explains what she's planning to do, Arizona is watching the monitors. "Dr Grey, are you finished?" She asks.

"Yes, last suture." Meredith replies pleased with herself.

"Would you go ahead and staple the incision closed, please." Arizona instructs her calmly as his blood pressure bottoms out, she pulls the sonogram over and quickly checks for another internal bleeder.

"It's there. Is that an aortic tear?" Callie asks.

"Yes it is. Robbins says calmly and moves around the table to open his chest quickly. "it wasn't there earlier, so it must have been rather small, the splenectomy brought his blood pressure back up and then the tear enlarged." Arizona explains calmly as she moves smoothly and rapidly to repair it.

"Good catch Dr Robbins," Callie says impressed by the blonde's surgical prowess.

"Dr Grey, did you follow that?" Arizona asks.

"Yes, the aortic tear is in front of the fractured vertebrae, so when his pressure came back up and then quickly bottomed out again, you knew there was additional internal bleeding and his heart rate was abnormal." Meredith replies.

"Excellent, Dr Grey. I'm impressed." Robbins replies, then to Callie she says, "I think he's all yours now. I'm going to go update the parents." She says turning to go and Meredith begins to follow her, "Stay here Grey, I'm sure Dr Torres can use you in here."

* * *

"Hey you made it!" Arizona says when Meredith walks into her apartment later that night.

Addison wasn't too thrilled that Arizona invited Meredith without warning her, but she does like the young surgeon even though they have an odd connection to each other.

"Arizona was just about to begin teaching Yang how to make a dirty martini." Addison explains.

"Then we are going to toast our awesome surgery today!" Arizona informs them all.

As they all crowd around the kitchen island, Arizona explains the difference between shaking and stirring a martini, then she shows them the difference with the dirty martini. "Which do you prefer?" She says after she's poured them both and they pass the glasses around.

"I think the shaken one is smoother." Callie offers.

"It is actually, do you know why?" Arizona asks.

"There's more water, it was fuller too." Cristina points out.

Dumping out the shakers, Arizona hands them to Callie and Cristina and replies, "Your reward for answering correctly is you get to make your next drink."

"Oh, no martini for me. I'll make it but Grey's drinking it." Callie replies. "Consider it your reward for rocking that splenectomy today."

"I can't believe you got to do a splenectomy." Cristina pouts.

"I also helped repair two vertebrae." She adds proudly.

"And she rocked that too." Callie replies pouring the drink into a fresh martini glass and handing it to Meredith.

Cristina goes to pour hers and doesn't hold the shaker correctly and the top falls of and it goes everywhere.

Callie quickly grabs a towel to help her clean it up and she can't resist saying, "Maybe you should keep your day job, Yang."

Laughing at them, Arizona takes Callie's shaker and makes another dirty martini stirring it and hands it to Addison, who smiles at her and leans in to whisper thank you.

To Addison's surprise, the second drink is a Kamikaze.

"You can make this as a martini, but usually it's a shot." Arizona explains as she lines up the shot glasses. Then she quickly adds the vodka, lime juice and triple sec and shakes it, then smoothly pours the shots one after the other.

They all take one and throw it back. Then Cristina says, "Okay, my turn to make them."

"Uh, shots are a bad idea, I can just tell." Addison says into her girlfriend's ear.

Oh come on it's fun." She says laughing as Cristina is still having problems with the shaker. But she finally manages to get them poured into the shot glasses, making a huge mess on the counter.

"Okay, can I try?" Meredith asks moving around to where Cristina is standing.

She quickly adds ice, measures the vodka, the lime juice and the triple sec, then she shakes it and pours it almost as smoothly as Arizona did.

"I've found my protege!" Arizona says excitedly and picks up two shot glasses, handing one to Meredith. They clink them together and throw back the shot.

"I hate you." Cristina says annoyed.

* * *

"Two fun nights in a row, Dr Montgomery?" Arizona says plopping on the couch beside her after the girls leave to go upstairs.

"That was fun, Dr Robbins, but do you know what would be more fun?" Addison says slipping her hand under the blonde's blouse and kissing her.

"Mmm, tell me more." Arizona says biting her lip and deepening the kiss.


	14. Chapter 14

"Sarah, while we are removing the sickle cells from your blood, your body continues to create them, Although it is creating them slowly. I have an specialist flying in from Mayo with another Pheresis machine for us to use. This machine will allow us to do greater amounts of blood in a process similar to plasma extraction. It will pull your blood through the machine, remove the sickle cells and return the blood to your body. We would like to do this tomorrow for the first time and then monitor you to determine the rate at which your body is creating sickle cells. It may be that we will need to do this weekly or monthly until you deliver." Addison explains to her friend and patient.

"Addison, what are the risks to the baby? Has anything like this been done before?" Rob asks.

"Rob, yes when Dr James gets here, she will explain the other uses for this machine and how it has successfully been used with pregnant women. I wouldn't suggest this treatment, if I wasn't confident that it would work." Addison reminds him.

"I know, I know and I trust you Addison, but this is my wife and child; I had to ask." He explains.

Crossing the room, Addison sits on the edge of the bed and takes both of them by a hand, "Trust that I am doing everything I can to protect you and the baby," she remarks.

"Dr Montgomery, may I speak with you?" Arizona asks from the doorway.

"Is there a problem Dr Robbins?" Rob asks concerned.

"Not at all," Arizona says smiling at them both as Addison walks toward her.

As soon as Addison steps out of the room she asks, "What?"

"The hydroxyurea test is promising, I reviewed them with the Hematologist at Mayo and he wants to discuss them with you right away." Arizona explains.

"Okay, let me just let them know that we'll be back to discuss this later." Addison replies heading back into the room.

"Rob, Sarah, I need to go. There's a positive development in the lab on the hydroxyurea test and I need to go evaluate it. This is good news, okay?" Addison reassures them.

* * *

"Walk me through it." Addison tells Izzy and Arizona when she gets back to the lab.

"We need to get Dr James back, but what we're thinking is if we can incorporate the hydroxyurea into the pheresis processing, then we could possibly reduce the need for multiple pheresis treatments." Arizona explains.

"That's fantastic, has it been done before?" Addison asks.

"Not exactly, but that's what Dr James is researching now." Izzy replies, 'there was a similar study that she's reviewing right now.

"Let me take a few minutes to review the hydroxyurea tests and get caught up." Addison replies as she sits down at the computer.

"I've got a consult. Stevens keep me posted?" Arizona asks before leaving the lab.

* * *

"How's it going?" Callie asks Arizona when she runs into her outside of the OR.

"Good, we're making progress. Addison has to go back to LA to her practice this week. So we're trying to determine if the patient should stay here or transfer back to LA." Arizona confides to Callie.

"I see. Well, is it working? Are you able to interrupt the sickle cell development?" Callie asks. "Addison told me a little bit about your project the other night," she explains.

"Oh, she didn't mention that. Well, yes we have interrupted it and slowed it down. We have a Hematologist coming in from Mayo tomorrow with a new generation pheresis machine, so it makes sense for the patient to stay here. But I don't have the same training as Addison in genetics or fetal medicine." Arizona points out.

"It's not like Addison won't be available and from what I can see you're intuitive and brilliant, I think you will do great." Callie replies reaching out to squeeze her shoulder in support.

"Thanks Calliope," Arizona says smiling at her.

* * *

"Addison, are we going to talk about you leaving?" Arizona asks her the next night.

"I'll be gone for a few days and then back, what do you want to talk about?" Addison asks, looking up from her laptop.

"We have spent the last two days talking about everything but nothing about us." Arizona points out. "What are we doing exactly?" She asks sitting down at the table.

Taking her glasses off and closing the lid on her laptop, Addison turns to the blonde and asks, "What are you asking? Am I in this? Because the answer to that is yes, but the reality is that my life is in LA right now. I've just established my practice there and it's going well. I have finally established myself and I'm proud of that and I'm not ready to change it." She admits.

"I'm in the same place here that you are there, I can't leave Seattle right now." Arizona admits, "And I don't do long distance relationships."

"I know, that's why I didn't want to have this conversation. I don't like long distance relationships either, but can't we just let this be and see where it goes?" Addison asks reaching out to take the blonde's hands in hers.

"No, we need to just end this now before we both get hurt. My life is here and yours is in LA. I think we just need to accept that Addison, there is no us." Arizona replies pulling her hands back.

"Arizona, this project is not done. We're going to spend a lot of time together over the next few months, there's no reason to end this now." Addison counters.

"But there is Addison. The longer this goes on, the harder it will be. I can't stay in this or I will fall for you and I refuse to do that. I can't do that." Arizona replies crossing her arms.

"I see." Addison replies picking up her computer and glasses. "I'll be gone in the morning and I'll stay in a hotel when I come back."

Arizona watches her gather her things and head into the spare room, she's not sure what she thought would happen, but this is what she expected. She realizes now that she hoped for a different result, she feels empty inside now.

A few minutes go by and Addison reappears, the blonde looks up cautiously at her.

"I, uh, need to get a few things out of your room." She explains before going in to retrieve them.

* * *

The next morning, Arizona gets up to an empty apartment for the first time in weeks. She barely slept all night. Part of her wishing that she would have waited to have that conversation, they could've had one more night together.

Walking into the lab, Izzy scrutinizes her appearance, the young blonde has gotten to know Arizona quite well the last few weeks and she can tell something is different. "You look like crap," she says watching her enter the lab.

"Thanks Stevens. Look I am not going to discuss this with you, but things have changed between me and Addison. From this point forward, we are just colleagues on this project. Do you understand?" Arizona replies.

"I think so. But if there's anything I can do, just let me know." Izzy replies concerned.

"Do you have that concealer? I need to not look like I just... I need to not look like I didn't sleep last night." She confesses.

"Yes, okay. I can do that. Locker room or lab?" Izzy asks her.

"Lab, I don't want to deal with anyone in the locker room." Arizona replies. "And Stevens, please don't discuss this with anyone."

"Absolutely not, Dr Robbins." She says before leaving the lab. "Oh and Dr Montgomery was in early this morning. She left this here for you." The blonde points to an envelope on the desk.

Arizona looks at it. It has her first name written on it in Addison's normal handwriting, not her doctor scrawl. The blonde is still staring at the envelope with Izzy returns with the concealer.

"You ready? This will just take a minute, do you have powder with you?" Izzy asks and Arizona looks over at her bag and pulls out a compact and hands it to her.

Just as Izzy finishes, there's a knock on the lab door. They look over and it's Alex.

"Hey Dr Robbins, I got a message from Dr Montgomery to bring you coffee and a donut before rounds, so here." He says sitting the tray down. "What's going on?" He asks.

"She went back to LA today. I don't know why she asked you to do this." Arizona replies annoyed.

"Okay, so you ready for rounds or what?" He asks.

* * *

"Do you know what's going on with Robbins?" Meredith asks Cristina and Callie at lunch.

"Well Addison left, maybe she's just bummed about that." Cristina points out.

"No, I think there's more to it." Meredith remarks.

"There's Stevens, let's ask her." Cristina says. "Hey Stevens! Join us."

Izzy looks at the three of them and immediately knows that something is up. "I'm just grabbing lunch to take back to the lab," she explains.

"You're always eating in the lab, come on be social." Cristina says.

"Okay, Yang, you're being nice to me. You're only nice because you want something and I don't have anything you want." Izzy points out.

"Tell us what's up with Robbins." Meredith asks.

"I don't know and I can't talk about her with you. She's a private person, you all should know that by now." Izzy replies.

"Look, we're just concerned. She looked like a zombie this morning when she came in. Nice work on the concealer by the way." Meredith counters.

"If you're concerned then you should ask her. But I'm warning you that she doesn't want to talk about it." Izzy advises them before heading over to get in the lunch line.

Callie sat silently through the other's conversation and she realizes that she knows exactly what happened. Arizona and Addison have broken up. I'll get Mark to ask her. "Hey look at the time, I need to go," she says rushing off.

"Okay that was weird, even for her." Cristina observes.

* * *

"Dr James and I want to review the test results with you both. They are quite promising." Arizona says as they enter the room.

As the older woman begins talking Arizona zones out, the monotone voice of the researcher combined with the extremely detailed review makes it quite difficult for the blonde to stay focused. She keeps wondering about the envelope that Addison left on the desk. Why would she bring it in to the lab and not leave it in the apartment?

"Dr Robbins?"

Arizona hears her name and smiles, "Yes, I'm sorry. What was the question?"

"I asked if you were alright," Sarah repeats.

"Yes, I'm fine. But excuse me, I need to go check on something while Dr James is reviewing her test results. I'll, uh, I'll be right back." Arizona says reassuring them before rushing off.

Entering the lab, Arizona snatches the letter up and opens it quickly. It's the key to her apartment. That's it. Disappointed and angry, she throws it in a desk drawer and stalks out of the room.

Stevens watched the whole scene and sighs. The rest of the week is going to be hell, then Montgomery returns and it will probably be worse, she realizes.


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N: Trust the journey and all that bs, stick with this, I think you'll enjoy the ride... still not Calzona!**_

* * *

Izzy Stevens is hiding out in the practice lab with Alex, "I mean I can't talk to anyone about it, but you know, don't you?" She asks him desperate to find someone to talk to about Robbins.

"What that Robbins and Montgomery broke up? I knew that was coming. Robbins doesn't do relationships." He replies.

"Why would you say that?" She asks.

"Look, if she did relationships she wouldn't pick people who aren't available for them. When she first moved her she had a thing with that pharmaceutical rep from Tacoma. Then it was the lawyer who was here to represent that malpractice case with the anesthesiologist, she was from Portland." He explains. "If she wanted a relationship, she'd date Torres."

"I think Torres has a thing for her." Stevens admits.

"Yeah, well that's not going to happen." Alex remarks. "When does Montgomery come back?"

"Tuesday. I have to go to the airport and get her and check her into the Archfield under my name." Izzy replies.

"Great, that gives me time to get transferred to Sloan's service." Alex says looking at his pager. "Crap, I need to go."

* * *

"Dr Robbins?" Stevens has been standing beside her for a few minutes watching her and the surgeon hasn't looked up once, she has incredible focus and Izzy hates to interrupt her, but she needs to have her look at the latest test results.

"One minute." Arizona finally acknowledges her. Then she keeps writing and then finally turns around. "What?" She asks with a slight smile.

"Uh, the results are back on the new testing." Stevens replies, a little surprised to see the blonde smiling instead of scowling.

"Oh, awesome. Let's look at them." She says. "I've got everything documented so far and I'm about to send it to Dr Montgomery for review. I'm kind of excited to get this published Stevens."

"Can I read it?" Izzy asks nervously.

"Of course, as soon as we get it past the initial draft phase. And you're listed. Addison and I agreed to list you on the project." Arizona informs her.

"Seriously? Wow, that's great. Thank you Dr Robbins." Izzy replies sincerely.

They spend the next few minutes reviewing the test results and making notes of what to discuss with Addison later. Just as they finish, Arizona gets paged by Grey.

"Okay, you've got this. If I'm not back, go over all of this with Montgomery." Arizona says before rushing out.

* * *

Arizona runs into Alex as she exits the stairwell, "What's going on?" she asks him.

"They just brought up the Newman kid into the ER, he's vomiting blood." Alex replies handing her a gown.

"Fuck," Arizona replies tying the gown and heading into the trauma room.

"Johnny, it's Dr Robbins. I'm going to need to examine you." Looking over to the parents she asks, "What's going happened?"

"He was coughing a lot this morning. He's not been feeling real well, tired a lot, low energy." His mother explains.

* * *

"Where's Robbins?" Addison asks Izzy when she dials into the webinar to find only the resident in the lab.

"She's in the OR, emergency case came in an hour ago. We had just finished reviewing the results, so she told me to go ahead and review them with you, I, uh have her notes and questions." Izzy adds.

"Isn't that convenient." Addison says sarcastically.

"I promise you it's a coincidence." Izzy reiterates. "Seriously, she was paged to the ER..."

Interrupting the blonde, Addison says, "I've got it Stevens, she's a surgeon, she was called into surgery. Let's just get this over with, okay?"

Izzy walks her through the test results and Arizona's notes, then she asks if Addison received the first draft of the project from Arizona.

"Did she tell you to ask me about that?" Addison asks.

"Uh, no. She just mentioned that she was sending it to you for your review." Stevens admits.

"That's what I thought. Stick to what you know Stevens. Now did you get my flight info for Tuesday?"

"Yes, and Webber's assistant reserved a room at the Archfield in my name for you. I'll check you in before we get to the hospital." She reminds her.

"Okay, sounds good. Uh, Stevens, one more thing." Addison says, looking a little nervous, she asks, "How is she?"

"She's good. I mean, she wasn't at first, but now she's better. How about you Dr Montgomery, how are you?" Stevens asks boldly.

"I'm fucking pissed. Don't tell her that, please." Addison says thinking better of going there with the resident.

"Uh, okay. I won't say anything to her. But you know, she was too. So maybe you two should, uh talk about that." Stevens says, still not really sure what happened between the two women.

"She's made her decision and I respect it. I don't like it, but I respect it. She, uh, didn't tell you about that did she?" Addison ask.

"No ma'am, she hasn't really told me anything. I'm not her confident in this." Izzy explains.

"Right. Okay, look. I'm not going to put you in the middle either. So just, uh, forget about this okay? Tell her, that I'm going to look this over and I'll send her an email with instructions on what to do next, I'll copy you on it, so you'll both have it, in case, she's still in surgery or something." Addison adds.

* * *

"How did it go with Addison?" Arizona asks when Izzy enters the scrub room as she's finishing up after the 3 hour surgery.

"Oh she wasn't happy with you missing the review session. And she's reviewing the data now." Izzy explains.

"You told her that I was in surgery, right?" Arizona asks.

"Of course, but she didn't believe me at first." Izzy can't decide how much to share with Arizona about her conversation with Addison. She doesn't want to be in the middle, but she is in the middle.

"Figures. Okay, I'll deal with that, don't worry about it. Now, you've got everything worked out for next week right? I really need you to handle that for me." Arizona asks checking in with the blonde.

"Yes ma'am, I've got it covered. Don't worry. Also, I'm spoke with Webber and he's setting up an office for her on the VIP floor, so you don't have to share one any more." Izzy informs her.

"Seriously?" Arizona looks over at the blonde, "Just for that take the night off and come in late tomorrow. I'll finish up."

"Really? Are you sure?" Izzy asks, surprised that Arizona would do that.

"Yes, I'm positive. Trust me go out have fun tonight. Next week is going to suck for everyone." Arizona admits.

* * *

Callie cornered Mark in the cafeteria and he wouldn't tell her anything. She can tell that something is up with Robbins, though. She was sullen and withdrawn all week, but now she's slowly coming back around and even stopped by Callie's office today with a cup of coffee. Which is why the brunette decided to pop by her apartment with a bottle of wine and see if she's ready to talk about it.

"Hey, I brought wine. Do you want to talk about it?" Callie asks holding up the bottle of wine when the blonde opens the door.

"I do not want to talk about it, but I will drink wine and talk about anything else." Arizona says letting her into the apartment.

"Deal." Callie says smiling at her.

While Arizona pulls down two wine glasses, Callie opens the wine and pours her a glass.

The blonde tastes it and smiles. "Oh, this is a good one."

"Okay so what do we talk about?" Callie asks taking a sip.

"Where did you go to college?" Arizona asks.

"University of Miami then I came out her to U-Dub for Med School." She replies.

"Okay, what possessed you to leave Miami for Seattle?" Arizona asks her.

"You haven't met my parents." She explains. "My folks didn't want me to be a doctor, they wanted me to study business and help run the family business."

"Wait, so your a doctor and they're disappointed?" Arizona asks confused.

"No, of course not, but sort of. I mean my sister Aria has an MBA from Harvard and she's a VP or something now. They want me involved though, so I'm on the board, but I usually just give Aria my proxy and she gets two votes. The only meeting I'm required to attend is the annual meeting with all the shareholders." Callie explains.

"Was there something about U of W that interested you, other than it was the farthest med school from Miami?" Arizona asks.

"Actually, they have a fantastic Orthopedic program here and it was literally the furthest I could get from Miami." She admits.

They share a laugh and then Callie asks, "What about you, did you always want to be in Pediatrics?"

"Not really. I was in a trauma rotation my first year, when I noticed that the Peds people were getting more variety of surgeries. Everything, cardiac, trauma, ortho, general, if it was on a kid, they got it. So I kept working to get into the peds rotation and it turned out that I was really good at it." She explains.

The rest of the night, they kick back on the sofa and swap stories and just hang out, they finish three bottles of wine and Callie falls asleep on the couch, so Arizona gets her a blanket and a pillow and then goes to bed herself.

* * *

"I'm not talking to you about it," Addison is on the phone with Mark and he's asking her about what's going on with her and the blonde.

"Just tell me, did you break up with her?" He asks one more time.

"No, I didn't. I wan naive enough to think this could somehow work between us, but she doesn't" Addison blurts out angrily.

"She dumped Addison Montgomery?" He exclaims. "Well, I don't even know where to start." He stammers. "Okay, wait, so you were thinking about doing a long distant relationship with her?"

"I was working it out with Webber, I was going to be on staff here and work 10 days a month in Seattle and the rest of the month in LA." She explains to him.

"Did Robbins know that?" He asks.

"No, I wasn't sure that I could work it out on this end, so I didn't mention it to her yet." She admits.

"Well, did you go ahead and find out if it would work?" He asks.

"Uh, no Mark. Why would I, she doesn't want me." She replies.

"No, she doesn't want a long distance relationship, but she might accept a part-time one. Hell, she's a busy surgeon, that's all she really has time for any way." He remarks.

"She has dodged all of our meetings and conference calls this week. She won't respond to me unless it's work related." Addison complains.

"Okay, so I'm going to talk to her and see what I can find out. We're buddies, she'll talk to me." He says confidently.

"I've been working Karev into spying on her for me, but he knows she'll bounce him from her service if he gets caught, so he's not giving me much information and Meredith is no better. Plus I can't really tell them what's going on because she's such a private person." Addison replies frustrated.

* * *

Callie wakes up the next morning as Arizona quietly sets a large glass of water on the coffee table in front of her.

"Oh god, I feel asleep." She mumbles and opens one eye to see Arizona is in a big fluffly robe, her hair wrapped in a towel and she's got a cup of coffee in her hand.

"What do you need?" Arizona asks.

"Coffee, black." Callie says sitting up.

Arizona sets her cup down and goes back over to the kitchen and pours a cup for the brunette. Crossing the room and handing it to her, the blonde says, "Thank you."

"Uh, why are you thinking me?" She asks confused.

"Last night was fun and it was good to hang out with you and I needed to get outside of my head. So thank you for the distraction, I really needed it." She replies sitting down and taking another sip of her coffee.

"You're welcome. That is what friends are for." Callie replies, smiling over the cup of coffee. "Good coffee by the way, could you please teach Cristina how to make a decent cup of coffee, that would be way more useful than a martini."

Arizona laughs and then her phone starts ringing. "Shoot, I gave Stevens the morning off, I better get that." She explains and picks it up with out looking, "Dr Robbins," she says answering it.

"Good morning," Addison says, surprised that Arizona answered the call and that she sounds happy.

"Oh good morning Dr Montgomery," Arizona replies as her voice tightens up.

Callie decides that it's probably a good time to leave, so she waves good bye to the blonde and heads for the door.

It doesn't have to be like this Arizona," Addison remarks.

"Look, I'm not in the office yet. May I call you back in thirty minutes?" She asks and walks over to the door and puts her hand on Callie's arm asking her silently to wait.

"No that won't work, I've got surgery in thirty minutes," she replies.

"Okay, hold on a second then." Arizona says holding the phone to her chest. Then to Callie she says softly, "I'll see you later, thanks again for a fun night."

Callie gives her a light hug and darts out the door. Arizona shuts the door as she puts the phone back to her ear and Addison hears it close.

"Excuse me, were you not alone this morning?" She asks.

"Addison, we're not doing this." Arizona replies firmly.

"You seriously just told someone goodbye at 7:05 am, on a Friday morning. We haven't even been broken up a week Arizona!" Addison says angrily. "Who was it?" She demands.

"It's not what you think and it's not any of your business." Arizona counters.

"I'm an idiot. I thought that you just didn't want long distance, you just don't want any relationship do you?", she blurts out.

"Addison, stop. It was just a friend and she slept on the couch. Do you want me to send you a picture of the couch right now, it has a pillow and a blanket on it, oh and apparently she left her shoes here." Arizona remarks.

"Why didn't you just say it was Torres? Is there a reason, that you're trying to hide that from me?" Addison counters.

"Okay, yes. It was Callie, my friend Callie." Arizona repeats. "Was there a point to this phone call Addison?"

"Not any more." She says and hangs up.

"Perfect." Arizona says tossing her phone into the chair and heading down the hall to get ready for work.


	16. Chapter 16

_**A/N: You will be pleased to know that I have a few days off and I am going to finish my other two stories so that I can focus on this one. I think you'll like where I'm going. Team AdZona!**_

* * *

Fuming, Addison throws her phone down on to her desk. Damn it! She had just spoken with Charlotte about her plan to split her practice and branch out into Seattle, she has hired a realtor and now Arizona is already moving on. Before she can discuss any of it with her.

* * *

Walking into the hospital, Arizona is still pissed from Addison's phone call and spotting Mark at the coffee cart first thing isn't helping. He smiles and hands her a cup as she approaches, "Here, I bought you coffee. Why won't you return my calls?" He asks following her.

"Because, you're calling on Addison's behalf. Mark, I'm not talking about this with you." Arizona replies turning around in front of the elevators. You're her friend, talk to her."

"I did and she told me that she's planning to expand her practice to Seattle and work here part-time." He throws out to see her reaction.

The blonde stops jabbing at the elevator button and looks at him. "Stay out of it Mark." She says entering the elevator and glaring at him until the doors close.

"Damn, that was down right hostile." He remarks.

"Well, you should stay out of it." Callie says walking up to him. "Is that true? Is Addison going to expand her practice to Seattle?"

"She's considering it. Wait, what do you know about it?" He asks her.

"I know they had an argument on the phone this morning and your timing sucks." She says reaching over and hitting the elevator button.

"How would you know that? You just got here." He replies, then it dawns on him, "You didn't? You stayed over at her place last night? The body isn't even cold Torres."

"Relax, I stayed on the couch. We just hung out last night. But I think Addison realized that someone was there, because I heard them fighting after I left." She admits as they get into the elevator.

"This is terrible. Addison is planning to split her practice between Seattle and LA, she's looking for a loft. She's in this and Arizona isn't, obviously." He says glancing over to the brunette.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Arizona wouldn't be this upset, and she wouldn't have broke it off after a few weeks if this was casual." Callie points out.

"Hmm, good point." He replies and takes out his phone to call Addison. "Montgomery, I have a plan." He says leaving a message on her phone.

* * *

"This better work Mark." Addison says the next morning when he picks her up from the airport.

"It will work, trust me. I know women." He says confidently.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Addison remarks.

"She's at the gym, it's Saturday. She went in for rounds, then she works out for two hours." He explains.

"Two hours?" Addison asks surprised.

"Yeah, she swims laps for an hour on Saturdays, plus her usual work out." He remarks.

"Well, that explains a lot." Addison says smirking.

"Okay, so are you ready?" He asks as they pull up to the Archfield.

"How much time do I have?" She asks him.

"You have about 30 minutes. I've already checked you in, so let's get your things up to your room." He says handing the keys to the valet.

About thirty minutes later Addison is waiting out front when she spots Arizona heading towards her. She waits until she crosses the street and then steps out to intercept her. "Can we talk?" She asks when Arizona realizes what's happening.

"Addison, what are you doing here?" She asks surprised.

"I want us to talk, so I took the first flight I could get. Please?" She asks.

"Addison," Mark says as he exits the building holding a hotel room card in his hand.

Arizona looks at him, then at the redhead and replies, "You're in a hotel room with Mark and you're here to talk to me?" She asks before storming off.

"Arizona!" Mark says rushing after her. "Listen to me, don't be an ass. I took her stuff up so she could stay down here and catch you before you head home. Don't make this about me."

Arizona looks over and now Addison is standing there patiently. "Give me an hour to shower and change. I'll meet you here in the bar." She replies to the redhead.

Addison nods and watches her walk away as Mark comes over to her.

"Thanks Mark, but you should go now." She replies taking the key card out of his hand. "I've got it from here."

* * *

Arizona is locking her door when she turns around to see Callie heading down the hall. "Whoa, you look amazing, where are you going?"

"Uh, thanks," she says uncomfortably. "Addison just showed up and wants to talk. I'm heading over to the hotel." She explains.

"Did you know she was coming?" Callie asks surprised.

"No, in fact, she was waiting for me out on the sidewalk. Mark must have known that I was at the gym today." Arizona replies.

"I told Mark to stay out of it." Callie remarks.

"Well, that didn't work. He was there at the hotel, he must of picked her up from the airport." Arizona explains. "I don't get why he cares about this."

"Mark has a huge heart and he wants his friends to be happy. He's cares about both of you or he wouldn't bother interfering." Callie explains.

"He told me that she's considering expanding her practice to Seattle, so that she will live here part-time." Arizona says as they walk down the hall together.

"Yeah, I over heard him tell you that yesterday. How do you feel about that? Does it change things?" Callie asks.

"I think that the problem is that I don't know what I want from Addison. I didn't think she would actually want this to be anything other than a fling. And I wasn't prepared for her to be so down to earth under that snarky exterior." Arizona admits.

Well, go talk to her and if you need to talk later call me. Alex and Izzy are coming over to play video games tonight with us and I'd love to bail on them." She says laughing.

"Thanks Cal." Arizona says putting on her sunglasses and heading out of the building.

* * *

Addison is sitting by the window with a view of the street sipping a glass of wine. She's nervously twisting a napkin in her hands as she watches for the blonde to come into view. She gasps at the sight of her approaching. Arizona always appears effortlessly beautiful. With her hair down and the soft butter colored leather jacket and matching boots, she's gorgeous. Addison watches people notice her, while Arizona seems unaware of the attention. She enters the bar and takes off her sunglasses and looks across the room. Addison notices a small smile when they make eye contact.

Addison gets the bartender's attention and motions for another glass of wine. Unsure how to greet her, she finally just leans in and gives her a light hug and whispers in her ear, "You're stunning."

"Thank you, and you're beautiful as always." Arizona replies tilting her head a little as if she's trying to figure something out.

The bartender sets the wine down in front of her and sets another glass of wine in front of Addison.

"Thank you for meeting me. I didn't want to ambush you, but I was afraid that you wouldn't see me." She explains, carefully maintaining eye contact with the blonde.

"Fair enough." Arizona replies and takes a sip of her wine.

"First I want to remind you that when I came back to Seattle the first time, I told you that I felt something for you that I wanted to explore." She begins. "And I thought things were going really well. So when you told me that you didn't want to continue seeing me, I was in shock. I didn't know what to do, so I did what you asked me to do and I left. But it was the last thing that I wanted." Addison says nervously. "Arizona if this is what you want, if you really do not want me around, at all, then I'll go," she says her voice cracking with emotion.

"Addison, I just have a hard time believing that this is what you want. I'm sorry that I don't trust this with you." She admits.

"I've made a decision that if you're open to seeing me, I am going to expand my practice to Seattle. I've already begun the arrangements and I am planning to get a place here and eventually have an office and small practice here." She explains.

"I don't want you to do that for me. I can't ask you to." Arizona replies.

"You don't have to ask, I'm doing it for me because you're important to me."

"Addison, how long will you be able to do that? Have you considered how difficult it will be to have two practices a thousand miles apart?" Arizona asks.

"I have. I'm also looking into leasing a plane." Addison replies and Arizona isn't sure if she's joking or not, but she can't help but start laughing.

"Seriously? A plane?" She asks leaning forward.

"I was joking, but that's actually a really good idea. I'll see what the Captain thinks, he can probably help me get a good deal on one." She replies, relieved to see the blonde relaxing and smiling at her.

"Oh my god, your own plane?" Arizona repeats and takes another sip of the wine.

"Have dinner with me tonight and let's keep talking, please?" Addison asks, taking advantage of the relaxed exchange.

Arizona considers it. She was really prepared to shut this down and head back to her apartment as quickly as possible, but she has to admit, that seeing her again and hearing her seriously planning to be in this relationship is changing her mind. "Okay." She replies. "But I'm taking you out to one of my favorite little restaurants, nothing fancy, but good food. I'll pick you up at 7."


	17. Chapter 17

Arriving exactly at seven, Arizona pulls up in front of the hotel and is about to call Addison to let her know she's here when the redhead comes out the door with a huge smile on her face.

"Where did you get this?" She stammers in surprise.

Arizona climbs out and walks around to open the door. Addison looks her up and down, she's wearing a black leather jacket and thigh high boots over her tight jeans. Flashing the redhead a sultry smile, the blonde opens the car door and gestures for her to get in.

Addison climbs into the car and marvels at the restoration. "It's beautiful, wait, this is your brother's car?" She asks, "The car that you refused to take after he died." She remembers.

Smiling and quite surprised that Addison remembered, she replies, "Dad stored it until I was ready, I had it transported here and I've only driven it a few times. It rains a lot here so I keep it in storage, I don't want to risk the t-tops leaking. "

"It's a 75 Firebird? That was the year he was born, right?" She asks, admiring the interior finish.

"Yeah, he and dad restored it. It's a beautiful night, so I thought we could go for a drive after dinner." Arizona explains as she pulls out of the hotel driveway.

"That sounds wonderful." Addison replies nervously biting her lip.

Arizona steals a glance at the redhead as she drives, still unsure about sharing so much with her, but Addison's willingness to expand her practice to Seattle was a sign to the blonde that she needs to give a little too, if this is going to work.

As she parks the car on the street in front of a small building, there's no sign out front except an open sign in the window. Tossing her sunglasses on the dash, she climbs out of the driver side and slips around to open the door for Addison and helps her out.

"Do I want to know how you found this place?" Addison asks looking at the nondescript building in the unremarkable neighborhood.

Taking the redhead's hand, they enter and immediately Arizona is greeted like family. "Dr Robbins, who is your beautiful friend with you tonight?" Jackson asks.

"Jackson, this is Addison Montgomery, she is a surgeon on staff at the hospital. Addison, this is Jackson and this fine establishment is his BBQ joint." She explains.

"Dr Montgomery, welcome." Jackson says taking her hands and appraising her. "Now go sit down and I'll have Ella bring you some ice tea. And I'll get your plates ready." He says gesturing for them to take the table over by the window.

"Jackson's 14 year old daughter was one of my first patients. I mentioned that I was new to Seattle and they invited me to come and have dinner, so I did. Now I have dinner here a few times a month. It's like visiting family." She explains looking around the dinning room and waving to a few people.

"I haven't eaten at a BBQ joint since I lived in Baltimore." Addison confesses.

"You're going to enjoy this. Jackson and Ella make everything, the sauce, the spice rub, they have a huge smoker in the back." Arizona explains as a young woman comes out of the kitchen with two plates of food, which she sets on the table in front of them.

"Thank you Shawna," Arizona says to the girl.

"You're welcome Dr Robbins," she replies smiling at both of them.

Addison looks down at the huge plate of food. Ribs, chicken wings, cole slaw, home fries, onion rings and pickle chips. "Oh my god, this is enough food for a week." She exclaims.

Laughing Arizona admits, "I can almost get lunch for a week out of this plate of food!"

* * *

"Oh my god, we probably should go somewhere for a walk after all that food." Addison exclaims when they are back in the car.

"That can be arranged." Arizona replies smiling and leaning over to kiss her lightly. "I've wanted to do that since you first got in the car." She admits.

Reaching over and taking the blonde's hand, Addison looks down a minute before looking up and saying, "Thank you for sharing this with me, Arizona. All of it. It means a lot that you would trust me with this, I, uh know that it's not easy for you to let people in."

"I've always wanted to let you in, Addison, I just wasn't sure how much of me you wanted to know." Arizona replies nervously.

"I want to know everything Arizona." She responds quickly.

"Well, okay. Then let's go." The blonde says pulling a sharp u-turn in the vacant street and heading up to the sound.

About fifteen minutes later, they pull up to small park and Addison turns to her and smiles. "You want to make out at Lighthouse point?" She teases.

"Not exactly," Arizona says getting out of the car and pulling blanket out of the trunk. Addison climbs out and leans against the car waiting for her.

Arizona takes her hand and they begin walking down the path, the last bits of sun are sinking and the lights in the park are flickering on as they head to the small beach area. Wordlessly, Arizona spreads out the blanket and they both sit down.

"I think this is our first real date." Addison remarks.

"What do you mean?" Arizona asks.

"It feels like it's just us tonight. Not Dr Montgomery and Dr Robbins," she tries to explain.

"Hmm, well maybe it helps that we haven't seen each other in lab coats or scrubs in over a week." Arizona points out."

"Might be something to that, but I think it's more than that. You finally trust that I'm in this and you're letting me in." Addison says softly, reaching over to cup the blonde's chin. Staring into dark sapphire blue eyes, Addison leans in and kisses her softly.

"Mmm," Arizona moans into kiss, "It's true," she says breathlessly, "I'm falling for you, I just wasn't sure that you were going to catch me, so I pushed you away to save myself."

Wrapping her arms around the blonde and pulling her close, Addison whispers in her ear, "I fell for you that first time, why do you think I was ignoring you? What I felt for you terrified me," she confesses.

"Me too. Which is why I was trying to contact you," Arizona says shaking her head, "For two really smart people we are not too smart."

"Love makes you stupid." Addison replies nuzzling her ear.

Watching the rest of the sunset with Addison wrapped around her, Arizona closes her eyes and just lets herself feel everything; the warmth of their bodies together, her breath on her ear, the cool air coming off the Sound.

Turning slowly to face her, Arizona is surprised to see tears in her eyes, "Addie?"

Addison looks down into her blue eyes and leans in to kiss her lightly. "I love you Arizona." She says pulling away slowly and looking hesitantly at the blonde.

Reaching up, Arizona pulls her back and deepens the kiss. "Addison, I love you too," she says breathlessly.

"Whoa," Addison says when they finally break apart.

"I know." Arizona replies looking around and realizing that the fog is coming in off the water. "I think we should get out of here while we can still find the car."

Taking a moment to roll up the blanket, the two women walk back to the car arm in arm. As they get in to the car, Addison asks, "Have you ever, huh," she nods to the back seat.

"I think the answer you're looking for is no." Arizona replies putting her seatbelt on and backing out of the spot.

Addison smiles mischievously, then realizes that the blonde didn't really say no. "Wait, does that mean no?" She asks.

"I can't tell you everything in one night Addie." She smirks.


	18. Chapter 18

_**A/N: Hold on to your seats, we're gonna be time hopping...**_

* * *

"What's next Addison?" Dr McCale asks at the reception.

"Now that Arizona has agreed to join my practice, I'm hoping that we can work to get her certified as a fetal specialist too. And we can continue to make groundbreaking discoveries in fetal medicine." Addison remarks.

"I can't tell you how proud I am that the two of you are nominated for the Harper Avery together. I really hope that you win. Even if you don't this is still groundbreaking medicine and it will change the lives of countless people in countries all over the world." He reminds her.

Smiling Addison is watching the blonde as she makes her way across the room and back to her side.

"Are they going to start this soon?" Arizona asks nervously.

"Norman just headed up to the stage, so I think so. Let's go sit down." Addison replies taking her hand and leading the way back to their seats.

"Before we begin the Harper Avery presentation, we are going to yield the floor to another prominent award committee. Jefferson and Natalie, would you join me here on the stage?" Norman asks looking to his left.

Jefferson Carter and Natalie Madison walk out on the stage and several folks gasp as they realize what's about to happen.

"I take it a few of you recognize us. I'm Jefferson Carter and this is my wife, Natalie Madison. We represent the Carter Madison Fellowship and we have a grant that we award once every five years or so." He begins to explain. Natalie then takes over and more fully describes the fellowship and it's purpose.

Arizona tenses up stunned, she knew that the grant award was coming up, but she had no idea they would make the announcement here during the Harper Avery event. A little nervous, she whispers to Addison.

"Addison, I need to tell you something." She says softly.

"Wait, I don't want to miss this. I wonder what amazing project they're funding this time." She replies smiling down at the blonde, not noticing her discomfort and concern.

"That's what I need to tell you." She says swallowing nervously and as Arizona begins to explain, the presentation begins and her voice narration floods the sound system.

Addison's eyes go wide and her eyes are riveted to the screen as she listens to Arizona talk about the children of Malawi and her dream to help them by building a state of the art clinic. Things that she's never told Addison. In fact, the blonde has never said a word about applying for a Carter Madison grant or even Malawi.

"Impressive, I know." Jefferson remarks.

"Dr Arizona Robbins would you join us on the stage." Natalie Madison says looking over to where she knows the blonde is sitting.

Arizona stands up and makes her way to the stage, where Norman proudly hugs her before she goes to stand between the two presenters.

"Dr Arizona Robbins, on behalf of the Carter Madison committee, we are honored to select you as the winner of the Carter Madison Grant and we look forward to building that clinic in Africa with you!" Natalie says excitedly.

Izzy rushed to Addison's side as soon as she heard Arizona's name called out.

"Did you know anything about this?" Addison asks the blonde.

"Not exactly. We have talked about Malawi before, but I didn't know that she'd applied for this grant. This is fantastic. Unlimited funds?" Izzy replies.

Quietly, Addison watches the blonde on stage as she accepts the award and carefully acknowledges everyone who helped her put the proposal together and she hastily gets off the stage to get back to Addison's side. She needs to explain this.

As they exit the stage, Arizona is asked to go back to Jefferson and Natalie's table, but she excuses herself for just a moment and makes her way over to Addison.

"Addison," she says approaching her. "I had no idea they were going to present this tonight."

"Does that mean you knew that you won the grant?" Addison asks.

"Uh, I received notification of the grant a few weeks ago. I was going to tell you after the Harper Avery," she explains.

"I don't understand why you didn't tell me. Three years in Malawi building a medical clinic when you just agreed to join my practice?" Addison blurts out. "Look, we're not doing this here. Lets just get through the rest of tonight and we can talk later," she says calming herself down.

"I have to go back over to sit with Jefferson and Natalie, please join me." She asks.

"We can't leave our table vacant. Stevens and I will stay here. Just go, Arizona." Addison says dismissing her.

* * *

"Its unprecedented. No one's won the Carter-Madison and a Harper-Avery in the same year." Norman is still marveling at Arizona's double win tonight. "Addison, you're a brilliant surgeon and researcher. And don't think that I'm not proud of

you too, in fact, consider that your project just got unlimited funding too."

"Norman, what are you talking about?" Addison was only half listening to him, as she's been focused on watching the blonde get pulled through the room by Carter and Madison.

"Your sickle cell project. The Malawi clinic will be able to set up a program to help thousands of African mothers with sickle cell, who knows, you may be able to eradicate that disease all together." He surmises.

All night Arizona has had a fake smile plastered on her face as she struggles through all the publicity, she's thrilled that they won the Harper Avery but she really needs to talk with Addison. Glancing around, she spots the redhead talking with Norman McCale and she smiles at her, hoping to make eye contact.

Addison is considering Norman's point about the potential of the Malawi clinic when she notices Arizona smiling at her from across the room. No matter how upset she is, that smile is magical and she returns it and is surprised to see the visible relief wash over the blonde.

"Norman, excuse me. There's something that I need to do." She says as she pushes through the crowd.

"Excuse me, I need to borrow her a minute," Addison says to Carter and Madison as she takes Arizona's hand and pulls her out to the hall.

"As soon as we can get out of here, I want to explain everything." Arizona begins to say as Addison turns around.

"Fine. But I just want you to know this doesn't change anything between us. I'm pissed that you let me be blindsided and I'd love to know why you've never talked to me about this. But right now, I just want to tell you how proud I am of you. " Addison says taking both of her hands and kissing her lightly. "You're remarkable and brilliant and I love you."

"I love you too." Arizona says surprised by the redhead's response.

"You're still an ass for not telling me about this." Addison replies smiling at her.

"Look, I didn't want this to distract you from the Harper-Avery, which I knew that you'd win, by the way." Arizona replies taking her hands.

"We won. I didn't do this alone." Addison reminds her.

"Dr Robbins, we need you back in here." Natalie Madison says approaching the two women.

"I'll be right there, can you give us one more minute?" Arizona asks, still holding both of Addison's hands in her own.

Turning back to Addison she says, "Come in with me, I'm don't want to do this alone."

"Are you sure?" Addison asks, "What will the Carter-Madison committee think of me standing beside you?" She asks.

"Somehow I don't think they'll have a problem with it, we won the Harper-Avery tonight Addison, we're a big deal!" Arizona replies leaning in and kissing her lightly.

Addison reaches up and wipes her smudged lipstick, "Oh right, I almost forgot." She says sarcastically and lets the blonde lead her back into the room, this time not letting go of her hand.

* * *

Up in their suite, Izzy is on the phone with Meredith, "Not only did we win the Harper-Avery, but Arizona won the Carter-Madison grant. She's the youngest recipient and first person ever to win both in the same year."

"That's fantastic, but does this mean she's going to Africa to build a clinic?" Meredith asks.

"I think so. I mean they haven't told me anything, but she won the grant to build a clinic in Africa, so she'll have to go there to do that, right?" Izzy replies. Then hearing them enter the other room. She hurries off the phone.

"Stevens? Are you decent?" Addison asks knocking on the door.

"Yeah, just a minute." She says setting the phone down and going over to the door and opening it.

"Come in here a minute, we're going to have a toast to our success." Addison says a little drunk.

A little weary of the tipsy redhead and knowing that she was blindsided by the blonde's grant award, Izzy looks over at Arizona nervously and the blonde nods at her.

"Okay, here let me get the champagne, they sent it up a little while ago." Izzy says going over to the mini bar and pulling out the bottle that she stashed there to keep it cold.

Arizona takes the bottle and opens it, it pops loudly and sprays them all. Laughing she pours the glasses and then proposes a toast, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

"Shouldn't you share your dreams if you really believe in them?" Addison counters and Izzy and Arizona stop mid sip.

"I should probably go now." Stevens says taking her glass and heading into the other room.

"Addison, lets discuss this in the morning." Arizona says softly.

"But Arizona, you didn't answer my question. You're really good at not answering my questions." She says firmly.

"I wrote that grant proposal before my fifth year. I did a summer internship with the World Health Organization in DC when I was an undergraduate and I had an opportunity to visit Malawi. I didn't mention it to anyone, because I didn't think I'd win the grant." She explains.

"But you won, so now what? How are you going to be Chief of Peds, join my practice and build a clinic in Africa?" Addison asks her.

"I don't know yet, but I'll figure it out. We'll figure it out." Arizona says hopefully.


	19. Chapter 19

_**A/N: if you've read many of my stories, you know that I love the idea of an spin off to Africa and I really think Shonda squandered the whole Africa story line, I still wonder why she even created it after dropping it so quickly.**_

* * *

"What do you think she is going to do?" Meredith asks Alex as they wait for Arizona to show up for rounds.

"She's going to Africa. Unlimited funds to build a clinic, Meredith. No one turns that down." He replies.

"I know but how does she just leave everything here?" She asks.

"Do you think they'll let us rotate through to her clinic in Africa? I heard that some of these grants will help pay for med school if you volunteer." He asks.

"You would volunteer? In Africa?" She asks shocked.

"To pay for Med school? I'd work on the space station." He remarks and then spots Robbins getting off the elevator.

"Sorry, I'm late. Just give me two minutes." She says to the residents as she unlocks her office and slips inside.

"Wow, she looks stressed." Meredith remarks.

"She looks like crap." He adds.

* * *

"Congratulations on winning the Harper-Avery and the Carter-Madison." Meredith replies when Arizona emerges from her office a few minutes later for rounds.

"Thanks Grey, now let's get going. Uh, where's Bailey?" Arizona asks looking around for the attending who covered her department while she was in Baltimore.

"She's in surgery with Torres on a case that came through the ER first thing this morning." Alex explains.

"Okay, well let's begin. I trust that the two of you are on top of the case load?" She asks the residents.

They both nod and she follows them into the first patient's room.

* * *

"Congratulations, how are you?" Callie asks the blonde when she runs into her in the lounge that afternoon.

"Thank you. Uh, I'm still overwhelmed. I have a press conference tomorrow morning and PR has scheduled multiple interviews for me afterward. It's bad enough that I had to fly to NY from Baltimore and then took the red eye back this morning. I don't sleep well on planes." Arizona complains.

"We saw your interviews, you did great." Callie replies.

"Thanks, but it just sucks that they're focusing on me and the Harper-Avery win is just a footnote." Arizona exclaims.

"Well, you can change that, you know." Callie points out.

"Good point, Calliope." She replies thoughtfully.

"When do you meet with Webber and the board?" Callie asks.

"Actually, I've already met with them. I knew about the Carter-Madison before I left for Baltimore." Arizona admits.

"Wait, you already knew and you didn't tell me?" Callie replies shocked.

"Well, I didn't tell Addison either. But I didn't know they were going to announce it at the banquet or I would have told her. She's a little upset with me." Arizona confesses.

"No kidding." Callie replies sarcastically.

"Now she's in LA and I'm stuck here doing all this publicity. I'm going to try to get down to LA for the weekend so we can talk. I think she'll like my proposal, if I can get her to listen to it," Arizona remarks.

"Good luck with that." Callie says rushing out of the room as her pager begins buzzing.

* * *

"Congrats Addison!" Charlotte says entering the redhead's office.

"Thanks," Addison replies smiling, but the blonde notices the smile doesn't quite ring true. "Hold on," she says and turns the volume up on the TV in her office, "Arizona's press conference is about to begin.

"Oh, wow, she's getting a ton of press from this." Charlotte remarks. "I don't think anyone has ever gotten this much press from either of these awards."

"Well, look at her. She's young and beautiful, the media can't resist that combination." Addison says sarcastically.

"The best part of winning both awards is that it will enable us to take our Sickle Cell project to the area of the world most affected by this debilitating disease. When I wrote my proposal, I focused on the most pressing health issues that I thought we could best impact, but now Dr Addison Montgomery has shown me that we can do so much more. My plan for the Malawi clinic is to not only do everything that proposed in my original plan, but now we're also creating a satellite project in Zimbabwe, which will be funded by an additional grant by the Mugabe Foundation." Arizona explains.

"Oh my god!" Addison exclaims.

"Mugabe, wasn't that the name of your VIP patient in Seattle?" Charlotte asks.

"Yes, Rob and Sarah Mugabe." Addison says turning up the sound.

"We'll be working closely with the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders in these regions." She continues to explain.

"This is really impressive, Addison." Charlotte remarks. "Uh, do you have a role in any of this?" She asks nervously.

"I'm not sure. I'm just as surprised as you are." Addison replies.

* * *

"Addison Montgomery," Addison says answering her office phone without looking up.

"Hello." Arizona replies. "Do you have a moment to talk?"

"Uh, Arizona." Addison says taking her glasses off. "I saw your press conference this morning, you've been very busy."

"I want you to know that Rob and Sarah contacted me with that proposal. I didn't solicit them." Arizona replies defensively.

"Oh, well that doesn't surprise me. Rob is brilliant and wouldn't miss an opportunity like this to help his country." Addison admits.

"How are you? I'm sorry that we haven't had any time together. I want to come to LA, this weekend to see you." Arizona replies. "There's so much we need to discuss."

"Are you sure that you have time to do that? Don't you have more news interviews to do?" Addison asks sarcastically.

"You know how this goes Addison, we have to take advantage of the publicity when we get it. No one really cares about clinics in third world nations and they'll be something else to get their attention tomorrow and no one will even think twice about this by the weekend." Arizona replies.

"I know that you're right, but damn it Arizona. I'm just so frustrated. We were just working things out and they were getting comfortable, now everything is changing. Completely changing. How do we do this with you in Africa?" Addison blurts out.

"That's what I want to discuss with you. My flight lands at seven on Friday, can you pick me up or should I just rent a car?" Arizona asks.

"I'll pick you up. Of course, I'll pick you up." Addison replies.

* * *

As soon as the blonde walks through the concourse, Addison wraps her arms around her. "Can we please just go back to the house and watch the sunset and talk tonight?"

"That sounds perfect." Arizona replies kissing her. "Oh god, I missed you." She exclaims softly.

"Okay, lets get out of here." Addison replies glancing around the airport for the exit.

"Dr Robbins? Arizona Robbins?"

Addison and Arizona stop in their tracks and turn around slowly.

"Uh, I'm a med student at Stanford, can I get a photo with you?" He asks shyly.

"You do realize that this is Harper-Avery award winning surgeon Addison Montgomery?" Arizona replies pulling the redhead into the photo.

"Oh my god, you guys are like medical rockstars." He exclaims as he squeezes in to take the photo.

"That was ridiculous." Arizona exclaims as they get into Addison's car.

"Ha! Medical Rockstars," Addison remarks laughing.

The drive back to Malibu is quiet as they both contemplate the past week and what it may mean to their relationship and they mentally prepare for the conversation ahead of them.

* * *

Settling into the lounge chairs in the sand just off Addison's deck so they can feel the heat of the day radiate through, they take a sip of wine and gaze out and watch the tide roll in and the sun set lower into the ocean.

"The plan, when you're ready to discuss it, is pretty amazing." Arizona says confidently.

"Okay, spill it." Addison says turning her body around to face the blonde.

"Phase one, I'm leaving in three weeks and will be gone for four months to pick out the site, the contractor and get everything planned out, meet with the government officials and get all construction lined out." Arizona explains. "The next phase will be here mostly, but I'll be meeting and assembling my team, that will take another four months or so, then I'll head back to Malawi and check on construction and make the next round of decisions."

"So the first year has you going back and fourth twice? What about the next year?" Addison asks.

"Well the next year is when we go back together and set up the clinic in Zimbabwe." Arizona replies taking a sip of wine and letting that sink in.

"Wait, 'we' set up the clinic in Zimbabwe?" Addison asks.

"Yes, Rob and Sarah want you to set up the clinic." Arizona informs her. "They were going to ask you themselves, but we had planned to wait until after the Harper-Avery banquet."

"You had all of this planned out before the banquet and I had no idea anything was going on." Addison replies carefully.

Arizona nods, nervous that Addison is going to freak out as she realizes how much she withheld from her.

"I don't think that I understood how flawed this was until I realized that. Arizona this doesn't work. We can't continue to build our lives separately together?" Addison continues, "This isn't working."

"Addison, it is working. Look at what we've done together. We're great together." Arizona protests.

"But do you think that we could be great together if we were actually, together?" Addison asks.

"Yes, and that's what I want to find out. Addison, close the practice and come to Africa with me. There is so much that we can do there for women and children, think about how amazing we are together and how amazing that we will be in Africa." Arizona replies sitting up and facing her.

"Africa isn't my dream, it's yours." Addison says tearfully.

"But it can be, can't it?" Arizona asks hopefully.

"I don't know." Addison replies, "I love you Arizona, but Africa? Africa is... Africa is thousands of miles away." Addison stammers.

"It is. But you have no idea how amazing it is there. It's a medical frontier, Addison. Anything and everything is possible in Africa and we have unlimited funds. We can do everything there. Just don't say no. Okay, just say maybe." Arizona asks.

"Last time I checked, Zimbabwe and Malawi were about as far apart as Seattle and LA. So we move to Africa and we're still not together." Addison points out.

"We open the Zimbabwe clinic together and then we have someone else run it and we go to Malawi and finish the two years on my contract. Addison, two years in Africa together and we can do anything. The hospital in Lilongwe is part of the World Health Organization and has a state of the art research facility." Arizona counters.


	20. Chapter 20

_**A/N: I'm ending this one, I hope you've enjoyed it. I'm going to lay off the long stories for a month, while I'm doing NaNoWriMo and working on my actual fiction. And I'm about to be laid off for winter, so I need to figure out where to work next.**_

* * *

The next day, they are awakened by a phone call from Rob and Sara inviting them to dinner.

Addison declines, but Sara persuades her to let them explain and apologize for not talking with her directly about the clinic.

Hanging up the phone, Addison turns to the blonde. "I need some time to think, but I don't want to not be with you while you're here. Could we just maybe go for a drive down the coast for lunch?" She asks.

"Okay," Arizona replies relieved that they will be together. And actually, they both need some time to think after their conversation last night.

Climbing into the passenger seat of the vintage Porsche convertible, Arizona can't help but smile at the redhead, she loves driving down the coast in this car.

As she backs out of the garage, Addison takes a moment to notice the blonde. She's stunningly beautiful and it takes her breath away, she can't help but slip the car in neutral and lean over and kiss her. "You look amazing in this car." She says breathlessly.

"A-Addison," she stammers at the unexpected attention, before reaching up and caressing her jaw and returning the kiss.

Pulling away slowly, Addison slips the car back into gear and pulls out of her driveway. Her lips still tingling from the kiss, she steals a glance at the blonde and takes a deep breath. Fuck, it hits her all at once, I am going to goddamn Africa, she decides.

The stress of thinking of everything she'll need to do in order to go to Africa, makes Addison drive a bit aggressively down the coastal highway. Arizona knows that she's frustrated and needs to let off some steam, but she's made a couple of risky moves, finally she reaches over and covers her hand on the shifter.

Addison looks down and then over to Arizona, who looks at her concerned. Addison downshifts and at the next vista, she pulls over.

"I'm sorry." She says turning the car off. "I'm stressing out about everything, if I go to Africa, there's a lot that I'll need to do to prepare for it." She explains.

"Addison, I know there is, but we have a year to prepare." Arizona reminds her. "So you're thinking of going?"

"I have to go to Africa to be with you. It's not fair but if that's what I have to do to be with you then I'll do it." She replies snapping at the blonde.

"You don't have to go to Africa to be with me. And I'm only going to be in Africa for two years." Arizona reminds her.

"Arizona, you're not getting it. I'm 38 years old, in two years, I'll be 40. I just didn't picture myself at 40 with a girlfriend in Africa. I thought that I'd have a family by now, that I'd be settled into a life and happy. And I almost am, but now everything is changing and I'm tired. I just want a normal happy life, is that too much to ask?" Addison asks.

"It's not. I'm sorry." Arizona replies tearfully.

* * *

They stop at beachside restaurant and eat silently, Addison takes comfort in the sound of the waves and leans back in her chair and closes her eyes. Arizona needs to move, so she takes off her shoes and walks along the beach, her feet freezing in the cool surf.

Addison opens her eyes and looks around for the blonde, before spotting her walking along the beach alone. Sighing, she pays the check and heads down to get her. "We should probably head back," Addison says from behind her.

Nodding Arizona turns around and begins walking towards her. Addison waits for her and takes her hand and slowly she wraps an arm around her and they walk back to the car. As they climb into the car, Addison realizes that Arizona is crying, "Honey, we'll figure it out." She promises.

"How?" Arizona asks softly.

"We just do." Addison replies, "It's too important not to."

Addison drives more carefully on the way home, instead of the anger she felt on the drive out, she's just sad on the drive home. As she pulls into the garage she takes her phone out of her purse.

"What are you doing?" Arizona asks.

"I'm canceling dinner with Sara and Rob," she replies. "I don't think either of us is up for it."

"Don't. I think it might help," she explains.

"Help? I don't see how it could help?" Addison questions.

"We need a break from this Addie," Arizona replies softly, reaching out to caress her jaw and cup her chin. "Maybe dinner will help us get some perspective."

* * *

"Oh god, come in and have a drink." Rob says when he opens the door.

"What does that mean?" Addison asks suspiciously.

"It means, you both look like you can use a drink." He says escorting them into the other room where Sarah is sitting on the couch with the baby.

"You look fantastic!" Addison says sitting down next to Sara before gushing over the little girl.

"Thank you so much Addison and you too Arizona," Sara replies as the two women sit on either side of her and vie for her daughter's attention.

"I hope you don't mind, but tonight we are having a traditional Zimbabwe dinner." Rob informs them.

"Now I know that Arizona has eaten this type of food before, what about you Addison?" Sara asks.

"Wait, you've eaten food from Zimbabwe?" Addison turns to ask the blonde.

"I have, my father was in the military and was stationed in Africa for a short time. We were able to visit him there one summer for three months, we traveled all over Africa." She replies.

"How did I not know this?" Addison asks.

"I guess it never came up." Arizona says shrugging her shoulders and then turning to Rob and Sara she begins talking in her limited Shona dialect, and asks them if they are ready to talk to Addison about the clinic. The both nod yes.

"Wait, you speak the language too?" Addison asks stunned.

"Just a little bit of a few of the dialects. I volunteered at an immigrant relief clinic in Baltimore to help me keep up with it. Unfortunately there aren't as many here in Seattle for me to practice with." Arizona explains. "But Rob has been nice enough to let me practice with him the last few months." She explains.

"Addison, when we found out that Arizona won that grant to build a clinic in Malawi, we contacted her about helping us build a clinic in Zimbabwe and we had planned to ask you to help. Our plans were out of sync when they presented Arizona the Award at the Harper-Avery Banquet, as we were not ready to make any announcements at that time." Rob explains.

"Okay, but how do you go from her helping you plan a clinic in Zimbabwe to me running it, without talking with me about it?" Addison asks.

"That was my fault." Arizona replies. "I was lining out my plan and then began lining out both clinics together. I wanted to be able to work on both of them when I was over there. It's a 20 hour plane ride, so it's not like anyone is going back and forth monthly." She explains.

They continue to discuss everything and Addison has to admit, she's actually getting excited about the projects. The impact to the community will be enormous and they have a chance to almost eradicate or at the least greatly decrease the impact of a debilitating disease.

* * *

How are you feeling about everything now?" Arizona asks as they sit in front of a fire drinking scotch. Addison's long legs are stretched out on the side of the coffee table and Arizona stretched out along side of her.

"I want to go to Africa. And I'm just going to point out that those are not words that I ever thought would come out of my mouth." She replies taking a sip of her scotch.

"You're going to be awesome. Wait until you see the plans for the clinics." Arizona replies excited about it again.

"I need to talk to Alan, my business manager, but I have a few ideas of how to keep my practice going for the next two years without me." She informs her.

"What? How?" Arizona asks surprised.

"I don't have the details worked out yet, so You're going to have to wait." She says smiling at her.

"Okay, I deserved that." Arizona says laughing and taking a sip of her drink.

Setting her drink down on the coffee table, then taking Arizona's and setting it down, Addison turns to her and says, "Maybe we should consummate our deal?"

"I like that idea." Arizona says kissing her. Addison reaches around her and pulls her closer to deepen the kiss.


End file.
